[Sigia-l] Best design practices for indicating access level on web sites

[KAMHOLZ,DAVE (HP-FtCollins,ex1)]

Hello Folks,

We are redesigning a support web site that needs to provide multiple levels
of access for our users. The content and web services will be available at
the following access levels:
- public access, no login needed (30% of the content)
- public access, login needed (20% of the content)
- protected access, login and active contract needed (30% of the content)
- protected access, login and active premium contract needed (20% of the
content)

We 'think' we would like to group the content & web services by
task/category instead of by access level. We would 'prefer not' to clutter
the design by put indicators next to each link indicating what access level
of that link (this one is still open for debate). The intent is to drive
more revenue and obtain a better understanding of the users who are logged
in.

The questions I have are:
1. Are there web sites out there that handle this approach well? 
2. What are some best design practices to consider when organizing and
displaying this content? 
3. Are there some pitfalls to avoid? 
4. Other comments or suggestions?

Best regards,
Dave Kamholz