Time, Inc. has made an agreement with Apple that will give its subscribers access to magazine content on the iPad for "free" as part of their subscriptions. Updated apps are now available via the iTunes Store so that those who subscribe to Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated magazines will be able to log into the respective iPad apps as subscribers, giving them a leg-up on those who haven't gotten around to subscribing yet.

Until now, subscribers to Time's magazines had to pay for separate access to the iPad app regardless of their print subscriber status. Time's People magazine was the first to begin offering free iPad app access to existing print subscribers, and now Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated are following suit. Those who don't yet subscribe to the magazines in print will still have to pay $5 per issue on the iPad.

It has been almost three months since Apple first announced its in-app subscription system, which allows publishers to offer existing subscribers "free" access to the magazine on iOS devices. Publishers must, however, offer subscriptions through the app itself (in addition to their own website or other methods), allowing Apple to get a 30 percent cut of whatever gets sold through the app. Although there was some backlash following the announcement, it certainly seems as if Time, Inc. has decided that Apple's terms are acceptable. Which other publishers would you like to see follow suit?