Since its debut, the joke known as the New York Times paywall has been an “obstacle” any enterprising kindergartner could bypass. But on Monday, panic spread across the Twitterverse as people unwilling to pay for the Fishwrap of Record’s content discovered that stripping away the end of an article’s URL no longer works.
https://twitter.com/nicolehe/status/301108641862393856
Is the "gwh" nytimes paywall bypass no longer working?? @ms
— Amy Wu (@amytongwu) February 11, 2013
Shoot, looks like the NY Times found a way to plug the hole in their paywall that I had been using.
— Miriam Browning-Nance (@miriambn) February 11, 2013
http://twitter.com/evanchill/statuses/301305532587839489
A New York Times spokesperson told New York magazine:
When we launched our digital subscription plan we knew there were loopholes to access our content beyond the allotted number of articles each month. We have made some adjustments and will continue to make adjustments to optimize the gateway by implementing technical security solutions to prohibit abuse and protect the value of our content.
Heh. Paywall loopholes? The New York Times is on it! Sort of.
Evidently the gateway is still sub-optimal. Here are four ways sneaky readers continue to scale the paywall:
1. The Google workaround:
Huh, looks like NYT closed the "edit the address bar" loophole on their paywall. Coming from Google still works though.
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) February 11, 2013
2. The Twitter workaround:
NYT links with twitter (or twitter app) as referrer don't trigger paywall. Tweet link or DM to 2nd acct. and use that. @wired2theworld
— kitchenMage (@kitchenmage) February 12, 2013
Recommended
3. The NYClean bookmarklet:
Allow me to introduce to you NYClean (formerly known as NYTClean)..The solution to all your #paywall problems #score http://t.co/9kR80TQ7
— Sarah Lalani (@Sarah_Lalani) February 12, 2013
4. A well-timed click of the “stop” button:
Avoid the #paywall of sites like @nytimes by clicking the "stop loading" or X button on your browser b4 the "monthly limit" message appears
— Thomas Ernste (@thomasernste) February 11, 2013
Of course, you could also pony up for a subscription. You know, if you think New York Times scoops like fall comes after summer and incisive commentary on “Bruce Springstein” are worth every penny.
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