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In what is apparently an unpopular move, Sony has begun charging a fee per Gigabyte for downloadable content.

by David Radd on Friday, March 20, 2009
Sony Charging Bandwidth Fee to Publishers for DLC

MTV's Multiplayer is reporting that Sony has started charging a fee to publishers for downloadable content. Starting October 1 of last year, publishers had to pay a 16 cents per Gigabyte fee for both paid or free DLC. Previously, there had been no such bandwidth fee charged by Sony.

The fee applies to free content (like demos) for only two months after its release, but paid content (like map packs) will always be subject to charges until that content is removed from the PS3's online store. Considering the large size of many of these files, the thought of having to pay thousands in fees to Sony when they do not have to incur such taxes from Microsoft is rankling some publishers.

"It definitely makes us think about how we view the distribution of content related to our games when it is free for us to do it on the web, on Xbox Live, or any other way — including broadcast — than on Sony's platform," one anonymous publishing source said. "It's a new thing we have to budget. It's not cool. It sucks."

While this policy has the possibility of scaring away publishers from placing downloadable content on the PlayStation Network, Sony dismissed this possibility. "Appreciate the opportunity to jump in here, but we respect the confidentiality of our business agreements with our publishing partners," said SCEA spokesman Patrick Seybold said in an e-mailed statement. "Of course we work closely with them to bring their amazing content to our growing audience, and we are focused on ensuring we, and our publishing partners, have a viable platform for digital distribution. We foresee no change in the high quality or quantity of demos and games available on PSN."

A cursory comparison of PSN and Xbox Live indicates no drastic change in online content availability, but the effect may be more perceivable as publishers start receiving the bills from Sony. "It's like leaving your phone off the hook for a long distance call," the source said. "The meter is still running."
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[url]http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/sony-charging-bandwidth-fee-to-publishers-for-dlc/?biz=1[/url]
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And I would rather pay a buck for a demo than be forced to pay a month/yearly subscription.

Live could learn something here make it free, charge for demos and things, then on the subscription side make some things free.