https://www.joeuser.com/Articles/TheSkinningSuperbowl.html

I help run a skin site called WinCustomize.com. It is immensely popular. With well over a million unique individual visitors each month, it is one of the busiest websites on the Internet.

The site works as follows: Graphics designers and artists submit their themes, skins, icons, wallpapers, and other items that can be used by various programs to change the look and feel of Windows. WinCustomize provides them with secure, reliable hosting for their work in the form of disk space and bandwidth.

This in turn attracts users who are interested in doing cool stuff with their computers. They download the various programs (or use what comes with Windows) and then download these themes, icons, skins, and wallpapers and apply them to their system.

WinCustomize is funded by Stardock. Stardock makes its living developing software like Object Desktop which is made up of WindowBlinds, DesktopX, IconPackager, ObjectBar, WinStyles, and more. People buy this software which costs between $8 and $50.

What Stardock gets out of WinCustomize is a reliable website for its customers to go and get more stuff and encourage people to create more cool stuff for customizing Windows. And because the site is so popular, it attracts new users, some of which purchase its software.

Unfortunately, WinCustomize suffers from the classic “free rider” problem. During a recent server upgrade, the site disabled downloading for non-contributors (people who weren’t in the database as being a Stardock customer and had standard access – i..e. non-uploaders). It turned out that over half the total bandwidth consumed disappeared. Bearing in mind that free riders could still browse the site, which makes up quite a bit of bandwidth use, this means that most of the expenses of WinCustomize are used by free-riders.

Any time you try to tighten things on free-riders, you inevitably create a fire storm because people start accusing WinCustomize of trying to charge for skins and themes made by other people and freely submitted. Which it isn’t.

So here’s a better analogy. WinCustomize as a big old superbowl party:

Bob decides to throw a great big superbowl party for his friends. He has a big old 60 inch TV for everyone to watch the game on and plenty of couches and such. He’s also providing lots of beer, soda, and other drinks. In the invitations, he included a note that people should feel free to bring over food to eat.

Word on his party spreads far and wide. As the kick off time approaches, tons of people start showing up. Most of whom bring no food at all. But they sit down and start making themselves at home. The beer is quickly consumed, the pop is quickly running out.

Other people show up who do bring some pop and beer and food and freely share it with others. But by the time kick off time comes, the place is jammed. No one else can fit in the apartment and many friends can’t even get in as a result. The drinks run out and hardly anyone can even see the TV despite its enormous size.

So the next year, Bob decides that everyone who wants to come has to pay $2 to get in. The idea is that the $2 will go for buying more beer and soda and help pay for the massive clean up after the party. But it also, he hopes, will keep so many free loaders from just showing up so that the number of people who actually come can comfortably fit in the apartment.

But as soon as he does it, some of the free-loaders from the previous year start complaining about how “Greedy” Bob allegedly is. They accuse Bob of trying to charge people to watch the superbowl (even though they can go to any number of places to watch it). They accuse him of trying to make money selling the snacks that other people are freely bringing to the party (though they themselves weren’t planning to bring any snacks). And ultimately they huff and say “Well fine, I won’t come to your super bowl party, I’ll show you!” (as if this is somehow a problem).

WinCustomize isn’t trying to make money off of the food other guests are bringing. And it’s not even trying to make money off of the game itself. All it’s trying to do is find a way to help pay for the drinks and clean-up and discourage so many free-riders from showing up so that people who honestly want to contribute to the community can fit into the apartment.