Were Gay Mags Just Given Away?

Re. the "sale" of Out and The Advocate: PlanetOut.com sold the mags, along with some other properties, to Regent Releasing for $6 million cash, payable in $1 million increments over the next year. But according to Regent and PlanetOut: "The funds shall be treated as prepaid advertising, to be applied as the marketing occurs." So. Regent bought a year's worth of advertising on PlanetOut's gay.com and got an entire book and magazine publishing business for free, then? Jesus. That's colossal mismanagement of your brands! Or a fantastic sponsor giveaway.