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> Paywalls are just a pay for access method for making money from content, and unrelated to the topic I asked what the difference between a Firewall and a payw

by vorg 11y ago

> Paywalls are just a pay for access method for making money from content, and unrelated to the topic I asked what the difference between a Firewall and a paywall is "from a user's point of view". At various times and in different ways it's possible to bypass the Firewall depending on how much you want to pay, e.g. using VPN's, using proxies though there's less of them around nowadays, visiting Hong Kong, getting friends overseas to scrape and email content, and the Firewall seems to fail periodically, not just from the Google change last weekend but often for a minute here, an hour there, for different websites.

nxzero 11y ago
Right, though "paying" for access wasn't an official option, where paywalls are an official option; comparable to paying for VPNs to get around official Internet blocks would be more like paying for access to a file sharing site to download pirates content. There less and less "pay" options because China is getting better and better at blocking the Internet. Happy to clarify anything or try to answer any additional questions you might have.
- vorg 11y ago
  > "paying" for access wasn't an official option Official and unofficial are two ends of a long sliding scale. Many paywalled newsites allow unlimited access if the article is accessed through links from search engines. This is an "unofficial" option. Accessing American TV shows from within China is more "unofficial". Firewalls are set up by those who claim ownership over the people using the net; paywalls are set up by those who claim ownership over the information being accessed. Not only do both those concepts of ownership sound suspect to me, but also from the user's POV the experience of a Firewall and a paywall on the official-unofficial spectrum is the same. Edit: By "paying" I meant paying with money (e.g. VPN's), with time (e.g. a day in HK), with guanxi (e.g. friends scaping and emailing sites), etc.
  - nxzero 11y ago
    Feel like you asked a question that at the very least doesn't express the issue you're facing to me, what exactly is the real problem that you personally are facing that's not overly broad; for example, how do I allow everyone in China to have access to anything on the Internet forever for free from anywhere? (Sorry, but just trying to be clear.) Also, paywalls might be defined as paid Internet access and those system often limit use of the Internet; this includes limiting access to content.

by vorg 11y ago

nxzero 11y ago

Right, though "paying" for access wasn't an official option, where paywalls are an official option; comparable to paying for VPNs to get around official Internet blocks would be more like paying for access to a file sharing site to download pirates content. There less and less "pay" options because China is getting better and better at blocking the Internet. Happy to clarify anything or try to answer any additional questions you might have.

vorg 11y ago
> "paying" for access wasn't an official option Official and unofficial are two ends of a long sliding scale. Many paywalled newsites allow unlimited access if the article is accessed through links from search engines. This is an "unofficial" option. Accessing American TV shows from within China is more "unofficial". Firewalls are set up by those who claim ownership over the people using the net; paywalls are set up by those who claim ownership over the information being accessed. Not only do both those concepts of ownership sound suspect to me, but also from the user's POV the experience of a Firewall and a paywall on the official-unofficial spectrum is the same. Edit: By "paying" I meant paying with money (e.g. VPN's), with time (e.g. a day in HK), with guanxi (e.g. friends scaping and emailing sites), etc.
- nxzero 11y ago
  Feel like you asked a question that at the very least doesn't express the issue you're facing to me, what exactly is the real problem that you personally are facing that's not overly broad; for example, how do I allow everyone in China to have access to anything on the Internet forever for free from anywhere? (Sorry, but just trying to be clear.) Also, paywalls might be defined as paid Internet access and those system often limit use of the Internet; this includes limiting access to content.