“News organisations must protect their right to charge for content online,” Rob Grimshaw, the managing director of the Financial Times Web site, said Wednesday.

“Publishers have adopted a 'free for all' model for too long,” Grimshaw added at the SIIA Global Information Industry Summit, Journalism.co.uk reported.

The FT launched a new registration and subscription model for its Web site access last October, based on the number of articles read by a user.

“There seems to be a pervading view that there must be purity in business models on the Web. That it must be all paid for, or all free and advertising driven. If we want to move forward on the internet we need to find a way to do the two things together,” said Grimshaw, Journalism.co.uk reported.

“There's a lot of innovation to come on the Web, in particular how we price our audiences and our content. The right for us to charge for our content is absolutely key.”

Even though the new FT access model has brought in a higher number of free registered users than paying subscribers, “revenue had been gained from advertising to these non-paying users,” Grimshaw said.

He pointed out that additional revenue has been derived from subscription-based deals made directly with corporate clients, which creates a broader model.

"Regardless of what is said in public, when you speak to clients and consumers they are prepared to pay for it (FT.com content)," Grimshaw added, according to Journalism.co.uk. “Publishers can charge for quality content, which is tailored to the needs of an individual group.”