Both good points. I find myself, for once, agreeing in part with ZD.
edited. It’s Tisha b’Av, for gosh sakes…
But I think that, as with most things, the real answer is to be found not at the extremes, but with a balancing act. Yes, most things in life are not free, and good maggid shiurim and website operators generally do not operate for free. And if the money goes to help propagate more of the same, or to keep a shul/moisod running, then I fully support limited fees.
But in the Information Age, where opportunities for disseminating free shiurim and the like to not only those in the kehilla, but outside it too, are plentiful, every effort should be made to provide ‘Torah services’ free-at-the-point-of-use, be it through the use of donations, advertising and volunteers. And, b’h. for the most part this is the case, particularly when you look at web offerings.