Coverage of the ListBot shutdown on SiliconValley.com: "'I would say that our objective as part of bCentral is to really provide business functionality rather than community-based functionality, and in order to provide those services we fundamentally have to charge for them,' [Erin] Hiraoka, [director of marketing for Microsoft's bCentral division] said." Speaking of bCentral, I see they're now offering a hosted version of Microsoft Sharepoint (or something like it with the same name) to small businesses. Pricing starts at $49.95/month. Microsoft charging for these types of services is a good thing for the industry, in my opinion, as it'll get people more accustomed to paying. And their prices are not apologetically low, either.

07/12/01 update (by O. Travers): Microsoft Can't Give It Away.