Tt post aug 11, 2017 b

"But installing software to defeat their (crappy) protections to me is no different than using pirated Microsoft Office or file sharing services to download music."

Except that pirating software is illegal, but how users configure their web browsers is not illegal.

And nothing needs to be installed to bypass the Blade's pathetic paywall. Disabling JavaScript can be found in the web browser's settings.

How in the hell is disabling JavaScript equal to stealing?

I guess that you would also agree with the notion that using ad-blockers is equal to stealing.

Many media orgs use a business model where they give away all of their content for free, and they rely on digital ad revenue. Blocking ads prevents the media org from making money. According to some people, that's some kind stealing or financial harm.

But you don't need to install ad-blockers. Disabling JavaScript from within the browser will block most ads.

I guess that web browsers, such as Lynx should be outlawed, since Lynx does not support JavaScript.

With Lynx, a user needs to install nothing and do nothing to block ads and bypass simple paywalls. Lynx is so limited that it has no choice but to ignore those things.

If you want to support the Blade, the best thing to do is to subscribe to Buckeye cable TV and/or Buckeye's internet access.

In my opinion, a person who pays for Buckeye TV/internet but does not pay for the Blade is still doing more for the Blade than the person who pays for the Blade and gets their TV and internet access elsewhere.

The Blade should adopt a 100-percent, hard paywall with no way to bypass it. No free stories should exist. None of that 10 to 20 free stories per device per month. Only subscribers get to see the entire content. The non-subscribers get to see only the title and the opening paragraph.

Why doesn't the Blade adopt that model?

The newspaper industry fucked up long ago when they decided to give away their craft for free.

Unbundle. Let me subscribe to sections.

I would pay for local news, local politics, local business, and some others topics, such as food and the outdoors.

But I have no interest in paying for local sports. Sorry, I don't care about local high school football, local college football, and local curling.