Question Technology writes that Encyclopedia Britannica begun making their material available free online.
Not only can bloggers access encyclopedia articles for free, their readers can access any article they link to. For example, you should be able to read this entry on history of technology (you’ll see ugly ads, though; it’s ad-free when you sign in).
Whatever your position in the Britannica vs Wikipedia debate this last move can only be seen as a reaction to the wealth of information available online.
My main gripe however, is that Britannica still wants you to sign up (it’s free) and then log in (it’s automatic) these steps are massive barriers which will only serve to promote the openness of wikipedia.