I would have to imagine it's an exception that makes their policies look asinine. Think about it through the typical workflow: googling an article for research

I would have to imagine it's an exception that makes their policies look asinine. Think about it through the typical workflow: googling an article for research, and finding a link to NYTimes, and reading it, versus something similar to hitting a research paywall, where there's an abstract and big "pay" button that might as well say Eff You. Then, if the user leaves, there's no ill-will (they aren't coming back anyway); but if they browse around, they get the first one free then a message to sign up. The OP is thinking of the hack as the standard interaction. Khoi Vinh ain't no fool.