Ann,

The article did not say that free internet access was ending.  It said that
several providers were placing limits on the amount of time people could use
the free net access.  NetZero, the main service discussed in the article,
has started a policy to restrict free use to 40 hours a month.  Access
beyond that will be available for $9.95 a month.

The article sited NetZero stats saying that a small percentage of the users
of the service were going over this amount and costing 50 percent of the
telecommunications costs of the company.  You can read more on this at:

http://www.netzero.com/about_us/20001221nz_pro.html