Save over 40% when you secure your tickets today to TNW Conference 💥 Prices will increase on November 22 →

This article was published on March 28, 2011

NY Times shuts down a paywall bypass in just 68 minutes.


NY Times shuts down a paywall bypass in just 68 minutes.

It might not have taken long for people to figure out ways around the new paywall “feature” of The New York Times website, but it’s apparently taking even less time for the Times to find them and shut them down.

In a story passed to us today, we hear about a site called NYT for a Nickel. The site would allow you to enter the URL for a blocked article, then pay $.05 to have access to read it. Only 1 hour and 8 minutes after launching, the site had acquired $33.85 in “orders” plus another order from The Times — Shut it down.

Being the good Internet citizen that he is, NYT for a Nickel founder Calvin Young went along with the order and took the site offline, then sent a check for $33.85 to The Times.

In all, the site appears to have served 677 articles from The Times. Not a bad piece of viral marketing for Young’s parent project, called Minno, which hopes to provide an easier way to deal with content subscriptions online.

Webinar: Unicorn DNA: The Blueprint for Scaling Success

What does it take to build a unicorn? On November 19, 3pm CET, top executives of unicorn companies will reveal the mindset, strategies, and innovative thinking that propelled their companies to the top.

Register Now

Well done, Mr. Young. And you even got your mention on The Next Web.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.