AnimeGlobe.com

Akamatsu Ken (Love Hina, Mahou Sensei Negima), Deguchi Ryusei (Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade) and other fellow mangakas have teamed up to launch a website aiming to provide free downloads of out of print manga.

Under the proposed plan, the site will distribute out of print works with the permission of the creators, which will be subsidised by advertising. Manga will be provided in a PDF (Portable Document Format) without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Revenue generated from advertising will be split among the creators of the works.

The website, "J-Comi" (Japanese), is set to launch a beta version on November 26th, 2010, which will feature 14 volumes of Akamatsu's, Love Hina. The site will collect data on the number of downloads as a test of the business model. Akamatsu will post more information on the official J-Comi blog (Japanese) and on his own Twitter (Japanese).

The site will officially launch on January 10, 2011.

Source: Baka-Updates Manga