8 ms·

Feel free to use Trim to remove all paywalls and JavaScript from places like the New York Times: https://beta.trimread.com https://beta.trimread.com.

nillium 6y ago
How is this not theft? Journalism is expensive. Of course, there are other business models (full disclosure, we're building one too: https://blog.nillium.com/what-can-napster-teach-local-news/ https://blog.nillium.com/what-can-napster-teach-local-news/) but circumventing a paywall is not the answer. Yes, the NYT is one of the few outlets that is doing reasonably well right now. But many newspapers are going out of business, or at least furloughing employees -- employees who already were not earning huge salaries. If you read the article, and they ask for money to let you do that -- then honor that request. Just because you can hop over a paywall doesnt mean you should.
- tengbretson 6y ago
  Loading a page and choosing not to run the code they ship with it is not theft.
  - jaredwiener 6y ago
    Evading a paywall is.
    - TremendousJudge 6y ago
      Really? What have they lost in this theft? The electricity needed to run the server serving the request?
    - Spivak 6y ago
      You don't deserve the downvotes. Just because the technical measures used to protect the content are weak doesn't grant you the right to circumvent it. Hacker-types always seem have this fallacy of "if I can do it, I'm allowed to do it. I understand it -- we're all hackers because we get joy out of breaking technical locks and using things for purposes they weren't intended and rule-layering digital systems. But just because someone uses a cheap lock it doesn't mean you have the right to break it. Who even cares about the copyright violation vs theft distinction at this point? They're offering access to their content for a price, they're not bothering with draconian DRM and so it's a dick move to just take it.
      - tengbretson 6y ago
        Do you have some kind of obligation to read the advertisement sections of a newspaper that gets delivered to your home for free?
        Spivak 6y ago
        Do you have the right to modify your on-prem installation of Gitlab to enable Enterprise features you're not paying for?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- catalogia 6y ago
  > How is this not theft? I call it peaceful protest.
catacombs 6y ago
How about buying a subscription to not just NYT or other national outlets, but local news organizations so the people reporting on these issues can keep the lights on.
- cutemonster 6y ago
  I've gotten the impression it'd cost like $100 / month to subscribe to the different newspapers whose articles I read maybe once a month? But if there was a way to subscribe to all of them and pay $1 per article (But I'd like to use Trim for 2 years, for Nyt.)
  - catacombs 6y ago
    How many newspapers would you realistic subscribe to? If you're reading the NYT, LAT, WAPO, WSJ, FT, then yes, the subscriptions add up.
    - throwlogon 6y ago
      If the newspapers/sites expect every reader to subscribe, it can add up quickly, if you're reading 2 articles in each of 20 publications every month. I do wish more people would pay for content, but the market hasn't really adjusted to the way people read 1% of dozens of different publications.
      - cutemonster 6y ago
        Yes, and I find it a bit weird that the newspapers won't collaborate and do sth about this -- I wonder how much money they're missing out on. @catacombs -- those, + the economist, + 3? more in my home country Most of all I'd like to support small local newspapers
        catacombs 6y ago
        > Yes, and I find it a bit weird that the newspapers won't collaborate and do sth about this -- I wonder how much money they're missing out on. Way easier said than done.

nillium 6y ago

How is this not theft? Journalism is expensive. Of course, there are other business models (full disclosure, we're building one too: https://blog.nillium.com/what-can-napster-teach-local-news/ https://blog.nillium.com/what-can-napster-teach-local-news/) but circumventing a paywall is not the answer. Yes, the NYT is one of the few outlets that is doing reasonably well right now. But many newspapers are going out of business, or at least furloughing employees -- employees who already were not earning huge salaries. If you read the article, and they ask for money to let you do that -- then honor that request. Just because you can hop over a paywall doesnt mean you should.

tengbretson 6y ago
Loading a page and choosing not to run the code they ship with it is not theft.
- jaredwiener 6y ago
  Evading a paywall is.
  - TremendousJudge 6y ago
    Really? What have they lost in this theft? The electricity needed to run the server serving the request?
  - Spivak 6y ago
    You don't deserve the downvotes. Just because the technical measures used to protect the content are weak doesn't grant you the right to circumvent it. Hacker-types always seem have this fallacy of "if I can do it, I'm allowed to do it. I understand it -- we're all hackers because we get joy out of breaking technical locks and using things for purposes they weren't intended and rule-layering digital systems. But just because someone uses a cheap lock it doesn't mean you have the right to break it. Who even cares about the copyright violation vs theft distinction at this point? They're offering access to their content for a price, they're not bothering with draconian DRM and so it's a dick move to just take it.
    - tengbretson 6y ago
      Do you have some kind of obligation to read the advertisement sections of a newspaper that gets delivered to your home for free?
      - Spivak 6y ago
        Do you have the right to modify your on-prem installation of Gitlab to enable Enterprise features you're not paying for?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
catalogia 6y ago
> How is this not theft? I call it peaceful protest.

catacombs 6y ago

How about buying a subscription to not just NYT or other national outlets, but local news organizations so the people reporting on these issues can keep the lights on.

cutemonster 6y ago
I've gotten the impression it'd cost like $100 / month to subscribe to the different newspapers whose articles I read maybe once a month? But if there was a way to subscribe to all of them and pay $1 per article (But I'd like to use Trim for 2 years, for Nyt.)
- catacombs 6y ago
  How many newspapers would you realistic subscribe to? If you're reading the NYT, LAT, WAPO, WSJ, FT, then yes, the subscriptions add up.
  - throwlogon 6y ago
    If the newspapers/sites expect every reader to subscribe, it can add up quickly, if you're reading 2 articles in each of 20 publications every month. I do wish more people would pay for content, but the market hasn't really adjusted to the way people read 1% of dozens of different publications.
    - cutemonster 6y ago
      Yes, and I find it a bit weird that the newspapers won't collaborate and do sth about this -- I wonder how much money they're missing out on. @catacombs -- those, + the economist, + 3? more in my home country Most of all I'd like to support small local newspapers
      - catacombs 6y ago
        > Yes, and I find it a bit weird that the newspapers won't collaborate and do sth about this -- I wonder how much money they're missing out on. Way easier said than done.