This is an interesting discussion. Thank you for your critical thinking SBF. I have a few related comments:
They believed that when they stopped charging for the literature that the brothers would keep donating the same amount anyway. It turned out they were wrong,
I was the account servant during this transition. The R&F did not contribute for their literature. I remember a night where we distributed the CD library. I was expecting a boatload of contributions that night. I still remember opening the contribution box and seeing a few coins. There was a very poor family with 4 or 5 kids. I remember that each family member had their own Insight book. I can assure you that they did not pay. these are just two of many examples that confirm what you stated.
The business of providing free content via the internet works very well with a for-profit business model. There are examples of publishing companies becoming very successful with the open access of their content. Their success comes from selling advertising, and the potential of building equity that translates into the sale of the business. The problem for an organization like JW.Org is that they don't have a business model that allows for selling advertising. And there is no real prospect of selling the business.
Thus, all their publishing effort represents a cost center with no corresponding revenue stream. What we see now is the org finding new revenue sources and cutting costs.