NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Prefetch Concerns: New York Times confirms that "free link-views" apply against paywall quota
Prefetch Concerns: New York Times confirms that "free link-views" apply against paywall quota http://j.mp/hAGPQ4 (This message in Google Buzz) - - - Reference: Brief Thoughts on "New York Times" Charging (and a Prediction): http://j.mp/eIMCVS (Lauren's Blog) - - - In a Twitter exchange earlier today, the New York Times confirmed to me that "free link-views" of NYTimes pages (that is, views that will not be blocked since they are linked from non-NYTimes sites, even if your non-subscriber "free" non-link quota [e.g. 20] has been exceeded, *will* apply against the free quota under their new paywall system. So, for example, if your browser automatically pre-fetches New York Times articles in the background via links from a non-New York Times page that you visit -- even if you never actually look at those pre-fetched pages -- each of those pre-fetches may (apparently, based on what I know right now) be counted against your quota of free pages that you can view directly at the New York Times site. This suggests that -- in theory anyway -- your entire month's free quota of direct New York Times viewing could be wiped out without your knowledge simply through the background operations of your browser. I'll report back when I have more information about this issue one way or another. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Google Buzz: http://j.mp/laurenbuzz Quora: http://www.quora.com/Lauren-Weinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com