12.04.2012 09:05 AM

Paywalls

I hate them.

However, I have already found that, if you delete cookies, etc., you can get in with little difficulty.

Anyone else have clever suggestions about how to do so?

P.S. However brief it is, I predict this will be the most-read. most-commented post since the now-legendary Kraft Dinner post of 2008. Comment away!

30 Comments

  1. Andrew says:

    Use chrome, view G&M / Postmedia in incognito window. No need to clear cookies.

  2. Stephen Bank says:

    Use Chrome; open links in incognito windows. Works for the G&M, the NYT, and the Onion. Doesn’t work for the Financial Times or Haaretz.

  3. Michael Bussiere says:

    Safari/Reset Safari…

  4. Cynical says:

    I wouldn’t mind paying, if the prices were more reasonable, and If there were a way to pay through an aggregator for several papers.I’m a browser, not an in-depth reader.

    My fear is that paywalls will be the final kiss of death for newspapers, and as mediocre as many of them are now, they are still important conduits for investigative journalism.
    I still like my MSM, just delivered digitally.

    I suspect the dodge-the-cookie game will work for a while, until the paywalls get smarter. IP logging is too easy to do.

  5. JM says:

    Speaking of KD, did you read this:

    http://thewalrus.ca/manufacturing-taste/

    I still love it- no milk, just butter.

  6. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    Slowly, ever slowly they are cutting their own throats — and enjoying it.

  7. william smith says:

    not many comments needed when all you have to do is to go into “private browsing” But why the F**k would sunmedia and its really shitty content be protected how else will the neanderthals get to droll over their comments about the leftards?

    • Derek Pearce says:

      That’s what surprised me. Sun readers just don’t seem like the type to pay for digital access. Not enough of them to make it profitable at any rate.

  8. anonymous says:

    Paywalls represent a failing business model. It has been tried in the past and failed. Attempting the same thing again and expecting a different result is, well, how would one describe that? Avoid paywalls, even if they are easily defeated; there is no point in joining the insane game.

    To paraphrase the late. great King Biscuit Boy (Richard Newell): “They’re gonna wake up one rainy morning, and find they done tore their playhouse down, again”.

  9. TimL says:

    I’m sure the Sun has lots of loyal readers, but are they the type to buy an online subscription? I don’t think you can even get a weekly Sun delivery subscription, just the Sunday Sun. So who do they think is going to pay for online content?
    On the other hand, if they offered premium SunShine girl content….

  10. Cath says:

    I’d rather read no news than pay for it. Are the papers willing to take the change that I’m the ONLY one? I can get my news from other, cheaper sources. Big mistake IMO

  11. !o! says:

    you can also often look at the google cache to get through.

  12. Mike in Toronto says:

    I have no reason to look at the Sun now that they got rid of the Sunshine Boy.

  13. Campbell says:

    Incognito.

    I honestly wonder how long this loophole is going to last though.

  14. Frank says:

    To clear cookies for a specific site

    IE 9 Instructions:

    1. Browse to the site
    2. Click Tools – Developer Tools (A window will appear at the bottom of your screen)
    3. Click Cache- Clear Cookies for domain
    4. Click Ok
    5. Restart IE browser

  15. John says:

    Not sure this is going to surpass the KD thread. Perhaps if you mentioned Guinness…

    Now I’m getting hungry AND thirsty.

    • bluegreenblogger says:

      Did someone say Guinness??? I bet that ‘The best pint of Guiness in Canada’ would get more traffic than the Sun, after their dumass paywall is introduced.

      There used to be a part-time pub with 15 seats (I kid you not. The owner was a diminuitive Irishman who worked as a Postman during the day, and opened a pub so as to have a decent pint after work). The Pub was called James’ Gate, on Bloor St West, just east of Keele St. subway. Unquestionably the BEST pint of Guinness in Canada. I was flabbergasted the first time I went there. At midnight (last call back in those days) the owner locked the door, pulled the curtains, and kept on pulling pints for the hundred odd people crammed into a 200 sq. ft. room. (The pub was sold, expanded next door, and is now the Whalens Gate. Still a decent pint.)

  16. TimL says:

    You can also search on Twitter for links to the articles. Arriving via social media doesn’t count toward the monthly limit (so they say).

  17. Robert K. says:

    Bless you for bringing back the K.D. thread. Recently made KD with 1% milk to which 10 yr old said: ewwww, what did you do to lunch, Dad?

  18. peter huisman says:

    The Vancouver Sun has a ridiculous paywall. If you stop the page from loading after the text has loaded but before the circle stops spinning it has no way of kicking you out like it’s supposed to.

  19. Web guru says:

    For NYT and WSJ (and others) just copy and paste the article title into your google search tool. NYT allows google access to all their content for search purposes. Google will take you back to the article, bypassing the gate, and Bob’s your uncle.

  20. No Name says:

    My take why Sun Media’s paywall is more like a broken chain link fence:
    Print is out, people get the news online. We all know that marketing dollars are shifting from traditional media to online but at only 10% of the cost to the advertiser.
    What do you thing would happen to their Internet traffic if they would put up an impenetrable paywall …
    Canoe.ca is boosting over 10 million unique users a month (10 million different IPs). Let’s not forget that many of those “unique” visitors only clicked on one page, never to return again. Even if they had 1 million returning (or loyal) IPs, how many would be willing to pay for their content? Loyal readers usually access their favourite sites from home, work and/or mobile. One million “unique users” is probably more like 500000 different people. Of those 500000, how many would pay for access? I’d be surprised if even 5% would fork out a monthly fee to read ‘recycled’ news stories or to see the daily Sunshine Girl. Even at 5%, that would mean traffic will decline from 10 million (9 million + 1 million loyal IPs ) to 50 thousand unique IPs or 25 thousand paid subscriptions. Advertisers will now demand lower rates because they can only reach 50000 unique IPs instead of 10 million IPs. Why make a paywall porous? To show ‘inflated’ numbers to advertisers to justify the investment to place an online ad, while collecting more accurate data of subscribers and as an added bonus the subscription fee. Personally, I believe a paywall can only work if you have something very unique to offer. Sorry to say, but the Sun isn’t it …

  21. theFakeGeek says:

    You don’t need to mess around with plugins or deleting your cookies. Simply modify your browser settings and you can easily get around the paywall.

    Here’s an easy guide: http://www.thefakegeek.com/2014/03/how-to-get-around-the-toronto-star-and-toronto-sun-paywall/

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