Only 30 percent of netizens are willing to pay for e-reading but more than half agree it is reasonable to charge money for web info, a nationwide survey has found.

And of the 30 percent of people who would pay to read, one-third said they would pay according to the amount downloaded, another third would choose a lump sum, and the rest would pay by the month or year.

Paying through a cell phone bill or registered account were two popular payment methods for netizens, although some would pay by credit cards or transfer the payment through bank accounts.

Of the 66 percent of netizens who agreed on some reasonable charges or held neutral opinions, most agreed the most reasonable way to charge a fee was based on the download amount.

They were more willing to pay through cell phone bills than bank accounts.

The survey of 2,000 net users by myTianHui.com, showed netizens liked to read online rather than traditional books.

They said time, cost and full coverage were the three main advantages of e-reading.

One-third said they also liked e-reading because they could leave comments online after they finished.

E-novel was the most popular reading material, followed by e-magazine and e-newspaper.

They preferred science fiction and love story novels, news and policies in e-newspapers and fashion and health care information in e-magazines.

But they pointed out some disadvantages of e-readings.

Sixty-five percent of respondents said it damaged their eyes, and 43 percent found unhealthy information on Websites.

(Shanghai Daily, March 4, 2008)