Times premium paywall foiled by Javascript snag

Pay up... Or switch off javascript button

The Times of Malta's premium paywall hit its first snag yesterday, when bloggers shared with users a surefire way of jumping over and access the newspaper's free content.

Yesterday evening, a mere 24 hours since Timesofmalta.com launched its premium paywall, bloggers markbiwwa.com and Bis-Serjeta - Serjeta Biss posted three ways of surmounting the wall.

The simplest was for users of Firefox or Chrome internet browser to switch off their Javascript button, which instantly reveals the full articles that are blocked by the Premium paywall.

Another method was install an AdBlock extension on the internet browsers, and paste the link timesofmalta.com/min/d.js?v=175$domain=timesofmalta.com in AdBlock's filters.

A less successful method is to close the Premium paywall box when it appears, and refreshing the page, momentarily revealing the article before the paywall box comes up again.

MORE Times goes Premium, but will users pay?

Timesofmalta.com started implementing its Premium package at the beginning of the week, in a bid to charge for content from its print medium which the newspaper previously uploaded to its online site for free.

"Premium content will appeal to those subscribers that want the facility to acquire Times of Malta content on multiple platforms," Allied Newspapers managing director Adrian Hillman told MaltaToday on Sunday. "The idea is to distinguish its role as a supplier of breaking news and a supplier of news which has value to a particular but significant audience in this country. The premium package will include global access to timesofmalta.com, the e-paper, the full version of Times of Malta digital archive (dating back to 1935) as well as access to the optimised version of timesofmalta.com on tablet devices."

The jury is still out on whether the Premium package will affect Timesofmalta.com's status as the island's most read news website.

"We believe this is a service worth paying half the price of a newspaper for, especially when one considers all the additional benefits - like access to our archive and digital newspaper - we are throwing in," Hillman said.

More from Staff Reporter

Joseph MELI •

The exact replica of any given days Times of Malta -as pledged -is inexplicably not available to Premium Content subscribers until late in that same day -so where is the Premium service is this regard?

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There is nothing wrong in newspapers charging a fee for their content. It is also unethical to bypass payment mechanisms, However the media must find the appropriate e-business model if they are to increase revenue and at the same time not lose readership to other portals and consequently also online advertisement revenue. The model adopted by the TOM requires a reasonable subscription fee if it is to be successful. If you contrast the fee with that of the london times which has recently halved the fee and the raft of additional benefits it provides one would say tht it is not value for money. One has to remember that online newspapers readers are persons who just like to surf news sources and hardly show loyalty to a particular newspaper. I would say that such a model would only work with a subscription of not more than 1 euro/week with option to pay by the week. Other models are to pepper the online site with running adds. A better system would be to pay a few cents per view but this requires a micropayment facility which could be arranged by agreements with phone companies. Ultimately anyone who wants to charge for internet digital information must remember that there are always ways to hack into content unless you make it not worth the bother to pirate info.

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There is nothing wrong in newspapers charging a fee for their content. It is also unethical to bypass payment mechanisms, However the media must find the appropriate e-business model if they are to increase revenue and at the same time not lose readership to other portals and consequently also online advertisement revenue. The model adopted by the TOM requires a reasonable subscription fee if it is to be successful. If you contrast the fee with that of the london times which has recently halved the fee and the raft of additional benefits it provides one would say tht it is not value for money. One has to remember that online newspapers readers are persons who just like to surf news sources and hardly show loyalty to a particular newspaper. I would say that such a model would only work with a subscription of not more than 1 euro/week with option to pay by the week. Other models are to pepper the online site with running adds. A better system would be to pay a few cents per view but this requires a micropayment facility which could be arranged by agreements with phone companies. Ultimately anyone who wants to charge for internet digital information must remember that there are always ways to hack into content unti

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Hallasni 30 euros fil-gimgha u FORSI jirnexxieli naqra' il-blog tal-Boccu minghajr ma' nirremetti.

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Only time will tell if the service is worthed.

Times premium paywall foiled by Javascript snag

Bloggers post surefire way of surmounting Times paywall in less than 24 hours since Allied launched premium package.