NYT: You Can Access Our Site For Free From Twitter, But Don't Tell Anyone That
from the say-what-now? dept
It's becoming more obvious every day that the NY Times itself doesn't know quite what to make of its own paywall. It's letting people view articles for free if they come from other sites, especially Twitter. The idea, of course, is that they want to encourage people to share stories and visit the site. But, apparently, there are limits to how they want you to share stuff. Specifically, the NYT has asked Twitter to block a user account called @FreeNYTimes, which used the NYT's own API to tweet every headline. Of course, this is admittedly pointless. The NYT, itself, already does that. But, so what? If this gets more people reading the site, is that really such a problem? The NYT, of course, will claim that this is just about the "trademark" issue, but is this really a "use in commerce"? It seems like a perfectly accurate descriptive use. And, really, once again, so what? How does this matter? If you don't tweet the NYT's links in a manner they approve, will they ask Twitter to shut you down? Perhaps the folks at the NYT should focus on actually providing more value to people, rather than worrying about things like this.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
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Dastardly
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No Java Script No Pay Wall
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Take down that wall...
Sounds like the paywall is there to capture people who aren't internet savvy. "Oh noes, I have to pay? Well darn, I will have to go get my credit card since this is the only place to get news. Dang computers are what's wrong with this country. Hey you kids, get off my lawn!!!"
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Insane
Oh I forgot, it's always someone else who is responsible and has to fix your problems.
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You can get the full digital access for $35, or you can get full digital access plus home delivery for $12-15.
I just woke up, and the dream where I was trying to return a truck after borrowing it to go to a hardware store to cook a flambe using a blowtorch and trashcan makes more sense.
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