I hope you are getting by with donations. It's interesting to see someone try out the "gift economy". It would seem though that subscriptions make a good amount of sense for a message board. You can be sure that people aren't sharing your id and password, as it's tied to your identity. I would think the best way to differentiate subscribers would be to route their data requests with priority. Check with k5 kuro5hin.org , as some subscribers are getting mad about slow access and canceling. Ego boosts and public notification I think are bad ideas, though (k5 opted not to do this either). Keep asking for donations, though--if I find it useful, I would donate beyond my subscription amount.
