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Ask HN: How Does the NY Times Paywall Work?

23 points by mtgentry ↗ HN
How does it work technically? Do they track your IP and machine specs? I’ve noticed sometimes if you hit the paywall and then try a different browser the paywall is still there.

11 comments

[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 24.6 ms ] thread
WallyFunk
Not sure how it works, but most of the time with these things you get a limit of three articles per unique session / IP then they prompt you to buy premium. I regularly switch IPs with a VPN and browse with different useragents in a private/incognito session, also with Javascript disabled. This works remarkably well.

For those times it doesn't work, I check if it's on Archive.today[0]

[0] https://archive.ph/

kuba___
there is a browser add-on that can bypass paywalls ;) (including NYT paywall)
thescribbblr
Which one?
mokarma
There's some Javascript you can run in the browser console to read articles normally:

```

    (function readArticles(){
     if(document.querySelector('#gateway-content')){
      document.querySelector('#gateway-content').style.display = "none"; 
     }

     if(document.querySelector('#app div div')){
      document.querySelector('#app div div').style.overflowY = "scroll";
     }
     if(document.querySelector('#app div div')){
      document.querySelector('#app div div').lastElementChild.style.display = "none";
     }

     if(document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f')){
      document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f').style.overflowY = "scroll";
      document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f').lastElementChild.style.display="none";
     }
     if(document.querySelector('#site-content')){
      document.querySelector('#site-content').style.position = "relative";
     }
    })()
```
midnitewarrior
Just keep smashing the ESC key when loading a NYT page if you want to read it.
yoyopa
they use data based on sensors in your keyboard and phone to detect your unique typing and finger swiping patterns, so they can track you on any device.
RonMarken
As a related topic the NY Times .onion site likes to refuse loading articles thinking a normal visitor with Tor Browser is a robot.

If anyone has any contact with the NYTimes ops' team perhaps this issue could be raised with them.

1vuio0pswjnm7
It does not work without a popular "browser", i.e., cookies, Javascript, etc.

I never hit a "paywall" when reading NYT via the commandline.

"I've noticed sometimes if you hit the paywall and then try a different browser the paywall is still there."

If stop using a popular "browser", then it is gone.

A couple of easy ways to get NYT article URLs

1. Sitemaps, e.g.,

   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-01.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-02.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-03.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-04.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-05.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-06.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-07.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-08.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-09.xml.gz

   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-01.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-02.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-03.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-04.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-05.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-06.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-07.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-08.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-09.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-10.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-11.xml.gz
   https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-12.xml.gz
2. JSONP

   https://static01.nyt.com/services/json/sectionfronts/$1/index.jsonp
where $1 is one of the following

   fashion    
   crosswords
   us
   briefing
   sports
   opinion
   magazine
   theater
   style
   business
   technology
   realestate
   t-magazine
   climate
   nyregion
   arts
   obituaries
   dining
   health
   briefing
   well
   learning
   science
It is possible that this question is being asked because the submitter wants to try to annoy www users with a "paywall" like the one used by the NYT. Let's hope not.