No Linking To Japanese Newspaper Without Permission 134
stovicek writes with this excerpt from Ars Technica about the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun, or Nikkei (English language site, so far apparently unaffected): "Nikkei has taken efforts to preserve its paywall to absurd new levels: anyone wanting to link to the site must submit a formal application. [...] The New York Times, which reported on the new policy on Thursday, notes that the newspaper market in Japan is radically different from that in the US. Although some smaller outlets are experimenting with new ways of reaching readers, most papers require subscriptions to access online content, and the barriers have kept circulation of print editions quite high compared to the US. Nikkei management appears worried that links could provide secret passages to content that should be safely behind the paywall, and this fear has led to the new approval policy."
Re:The difference is quality (Score:3, Insightful)
If there's a strict code of honor that everyone abides by, why does the Yakuza exist?
Individuals are still individuals even in Japan.
Can't begin to compare (Score:5, Insightful)
Nature of the beast (Score:5, Insightful)
Wasn't one of the premises of the WWW to be able to hyperlink to anything you want, anything at all, and the underlying technology designed to reflect this idealogy?
If I'm wrong, please educate me.
Re:Let's write out the pseudocode... (Score:5, Insightful)
Where would you add the not? That code is messed up. If you do "is not Authorized", it is still broken as OurUrl = false, Authorized = true would still cause denialpage. And now I assume that if OurUrl is true then Authorized will be true too. Let me suggest:
If (RefererURL is OurURL) or (RefererUrl is Authorized) then { show content; } else { show denialpage; }
In this solution we avoid unnecessary negation and I would think this would be clear for all readers. A thing to note about this approach is that this is "deny by default". Alternatively:
If (RefererURL is not OurURL) and (RefererURL is not Authorized) then { show denialpage; } else { show content };
Re:Nature of the beast (Score:5, Insightful)
That's like it was when the internet was ruled by the techies. Now it's ruled by the beancounters.
Yeah good luck with that... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll just keep reading other english/japanese dailies like MDN [mainichi.jp] which have better content. Or any of the local papers which you can google out, not to mention actual commentary about what's going on. I think the last time I read Nikkei related was in 2001.
Free Content, we are drowning in it (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Let's write out the pseudocode... (Score:4, Insightful)
"The New York Times, which reported on the new policy on Thursday, notes that.."
Since the NYT will disappear behind a paywall as well soon, they will be able to sort that out in the VIP room, where none of the unwashed masses will read it.
Re:Nature of the beast (Score:4, Insightful)
The story isn't that they have a paywall, it's that they're demanding formal requests to be made in order for anyone to *link* to their content just in case someone finds a way around their paywall.
It's like me demanding that people submit formal requests to me if they want to tell anyone my address, just in case someone finds a way to break into my house; it's not exactly the world's greatest anti-theft protection.
Re:The difference is quality (Score:3, Insightful)
This is straight up bullshit, I don't know if you live in Klan Country but I have lived within the US in California and Arizona and I'm not sure if a more diverse set of people live anywhere else in the world. In the middle of Republican Arizona I can get some of the most awesome authentic Afghani food available. There are entire communities of people from nearly everywhere in the world that exist in major cities here. Greek fairs, Asian fairs, Russian fairs nearly every week a culture celebrates themselves with large followings. Even suburban white people have yearly block parties and love for native american culture and western themed anything. It is true Americans are very behind in some respects but we are very open to other cultures. Even our immigration policies are more open than our neighbors (Canada in particular).
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The difference is quality (Score:5, Insightful)
Nice troll. America lacks almost completely the equating of product defects with moral defects. It lacks a deep insecurity of its own culture (quite the opposite, Americans take American culture so much for granted that many are often surprised when it doesn't exist elsewhere, and we export it without even trying) Institutionalized misogyny is largely absent; the places it holds out are generally places considered either morally suspect or low class or both (car sales, and particularly used car sales, being one such holdout.). Hugely xenophobic attitudes towards other races are held by a minority of the population, again usually not well-thought-of by the rest. Hivemind-like business practices? Uh, no. Even in the bad old days of legal cartels, there was nothing resembling a hive mind. Pedophilia dressed up in cartoon outfits? Again, no. So that leaves widespread depression among males. Judging from the drug commercials, I'd say you've got that one. One out of seven.... you must be European.
Re:The difference is quality (Score:3, Insightful)
Except this isn't about paywalls and whether they are good or bad in any sense, it is about trying to prohibit people pointing links at your pages without permission. You can refuse t serve up a page if you like, or redirect people to a different page, but you can't object to someone pointing a hyperlink at anything they like. If your paywall is broken, that's your problem, not the rest of the world's.