Comments

1
Umm, just open the Times site in your browser's incognito mode. Then they won't be able to read any cookies to see how many articles you have viewed.
2
This makes a lot of sense. To summarize: the paywall is totally nonporous -- and you figured out several ways around it the first time you tried it.

And then you want us to believe that you won't share those because it would be poor sportsmanship? That's funny.
3
Yep. In IE, ctrl+shift+p opens a private window. I was able to open a bunch of articles, hit the paywall, open a new window and keep reading.

I refuse to ever subscribe again after one of their telemarketers signed me up for a subscription without my consent. I cancelled before moving apartments and every couple of weeks got a call from their subscription department. Several months later I got a bill for a new subscription at my old address (the building was being torn down, so they weren't even delivering the papers).
4
I actually bought a subscription, BTW, simply because I think it's important to have a daily source of long form journalism in our city. But the Times could easily close this hole by requiring all readers to register for their free articles, and doing all the article counting on their side rather than on my computer.
6
That would also work, GermanSausage. That's one of the things that happens with incognito/inprivate modes.
7
It makes sense to have the paywall relatively easy to get around, at first. The NYT say they are very gradually tightening their paywall now.
8
Stop being such a cheap-ass whiner, Goldy. Either pony up the $4 or leave it be.
9
I haven't met a paywall I couldn't walk past like a panhandler.
10
please someone answer @5's interesting question (must be interesting, because i thought the same thing ;-)
11
I answered number 5's question with number 6, number 10.
12
News at 7…Goldensteinemberg can't jew the Seattle Times.
13
WHO'S TIM!?!
14
What would you like to see them do? What would Goldy's magical solution be?
Their print readership is drying up. Doesn't it make sense to try and charge people that are frequent users of the site? How do you expect them to continue making the money that feeds their reporting? They're not some small local weekly paper that's just supporting a handful of employees.
Don't get me wrong. I think it will most likely fail just because people have been conditioned to having access to everything online for free. but shit, seeing your glee in watching them struggle is lame.
15
The LA Times has one of the more interesting paywalls I've encountered. Delete the LA Times cookie and it magically comes back with the same value.

("Magically" in this context refers to their partnership with another company who's cookie many people do not want to delete, but which is capable if storing large amounts of user data.)
16
@13 The CEO or Editor-in-chief or whatever analog to Frank Blethen the Strangler has.
17
Hey, they have to do something if the Gov is going to vaporize their tax subsidies ... um, "incentives".
18
Down with all media!! (except for yours, of course, because you are ~so different~ somehow??))
19
The paywall on the NYTimes crossword puzzles is completely nonporous, as you have to sign in so they can check your account before giving you access. So they have the technology in house, but decided not to implement it site-wide.

It seems like making the paywall semi-porous is a better business model, because they get paid by people who don't know how or don't bother to get around it, and those who game the system boost their readership numbers, so they can justify charging more for ads.
20
the NYT is worth $15/month. The ST is not worth $16/month.
21
you can subscribe to the Sunday paper for less than $4/wk. and you get an online account with it.
22
@21, oh, great, thanks for the protip! I can read stale news in the Sunday paper, most of it from other providers (like NYT), for only $4/week, instead of for free! AND I get a free online account, which I can subvert by deleting my cookies. PLUS the benefit of supporting their ridiculous coterie of popinjays that constitute their editorial board. I'm in, dude!
23
This is fitting: turn on private browsing and then go read the 2011 profile of Tim Keck at... The Seattle Times.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pa…

(includes photo gallery)
24
@21, the Sunday paper is 99% ads. I don't want to fill up my recycle box with them. In fact, the weekday issues are almost 50% ads.
25
The Seattle Times wishes half the weekday issues were ads. And you sarah70, are an innumerate bitch.
26
What if you actually do buy the Seattle Times -- only you happen to live or work next to a coin operated dispenser or picking one up at Bartell's? Where I can I get value in paying twice for the same product in this case?
27
Well either you pay for access, or continue to read free news sites like SLOG, but with SLOG, you need an ad-blocker, otherwise one risks getting fired from all the personal porn ads.

Paywall isnt a big deal to me, I rarely read the Seattle Times, but for a guy like Goldy, someone who obsesses over The Seattle Times, its a really big deal.
28
Lol the Seattle times couldn't pay me to read their teabag rag. Guess they are hurting for money. Whats up? Is the white supremacist cons they thought would get subscriptions ain't buying their shit?
29
"THE TIMES SUCKS. I NEVER READ IT. I HOPE IT DIES!"

"Oh, and here are all the ways to get around the paywall."
30
I am getting to the point where they have to tell me the news story in a Facebook feed. I won't even click on the external links to the articles.
31
I find not reading the S.T. a tremendous time saver. Their complete failure to keep us informed about the legislature or anything else that matters over the years has resulted in their total irrelevance and stultification.
32
Tim Keck and Frank Blethen have one thing in common: they are anti-union.
33
It's certainly harder than the NY Times, but it's hardly non-porous. Takes a little work, but I get around it on most articles.

And as someone else mentioned, I waste less time on the site now reading silly content.
34
"Umm, just open the Times site in your browser's incognito mode. Then they won't be able to read any cookies to see how many articles you have viewed."

Brilliant!!!! So simple, so effective. Thank you!
35
If you want to view the Seattle Times without a paid subscription and you are using chrome browser, I wrote an extension that lets you do just that. No need for deleting cookies or incognito mode... Enjoy.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detai…

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