[bmelton]

If there's value in the community, then the cost to build that community is MUCH MUCH greater if you're charging. The obvious drawback is that until you HAVE a community, you're delivering less value, due to its absence, at the start. Where the community adds value to the product, or if the community is a producer of content, then by all means, they should be free.

If the community is simply a content consumer, or if there is a willingness to pay (or an accustom to pay, as in the case of lawyers, wall street types, etc.) then by all means, ignore the freemium model altogether.