Okay, I know a lot of people are going to be particpating in the
Content Strike: Friday March 21. And I don't mean to come down on the strikeout like it's bad or anything. But I'm not gonna be participating (barring electrical outage or something similar).
Granted, I think they could've been a lot more forthright about what they were implementing in terms of free journals.
Then again, these are Russians we're talking about. Being upfront about it would've been a lot better, a lot more honest, and presented a strong image of "we may make changes, but they will be clear and set." This 'trying to hide it' nonsense just makes it seem like it's possible to reverse it.
Still, I think they have the right to run their business according to an established business model, ie. paid accounts get no ads. LJ might be "driven by user created content," but it doesn't receive revenue by it.