It’s probably closer to price discrimination: they are obviously happy for people to read what they publish even without paying, as long as it’s only people who

It’s probably closer to price discrimination: they are obviously happy for people to read what they publish even without paying, as long as it’s only people who would not pay otherwise. Publishers aim for a barrier that is just high enough so that people with less time and more money would rather pay than circumvent them. It’s the exact same mechanism as supermarkets using coupons to grant people with lower financial means the opportunity to shop with them, knowing that their regular customers would die of embarrassment if their neighbors saw them clipping coupons.