• , Tuesday, March 22, 2011 10:22 AM

Let the leaks begin! As The New York Times prepares to launch its metered pay wall, the Web is abuzz with alternatives for subscription-averse readers. Referring to code that will block cart blanch access to NYTimes.com, Nieman Journalism Lab writes: "Unfortunately for the Times, there are plenty of popular (or popular-among-nerds) tools that tactically remove little bits of CSS and Javascript."

In one instance, Canadian coder David Hayes just released NYClean, a "bookmarklet," which, in one click, tears down The Times' pay wall. In what he calls an "obligatory note," Nieman Lab's Joshua Benton says he thinks the NYT is right to ask regular readers to pay, and thinks its pay wall is "basically" well-designed. That said, "The Times pay wall is, to a certain extent, defined by its leakiness," Benton adds. "The various holes -- external links from social media and search biggest among them -- are no accident; they're the result of some (correct, I say) thinking about hitting the right balance between fly-by and dedicated readers."

Read the whole story at »