
Discussion: Add rule against paywalled content to HN Guidelines - snek
I enjoy reading HN, but a lot of links are paywalled, which leaves me frustrated a lot of the time, having to go and find the scoop on another site, which kind of defeats the entire point of HN. This is why I would like to open the topic up to discussion and get some attention around making HN better.<p>-Gus
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grzm
The FAQ is pretty clear on the HN position regarding paywalls:

> _Are paywalls ok?_

> _It 's ok to post stories from sites with paywalls that have workarounds._

> _In comments, it 's ok to ask how to read an article and to help other users
> do so. But please don't post complaints about paywalls. Those are off
> topic._

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html)

More description from 'dang.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989)

Although it's from a couple of years ago, I haven't seen a moderator make any
comment to indicate that this stance has changed. Here's a similar Ask HN from
a year ago where 'sctb points back to 'dang's Tell HN.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12683017](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12683017)

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sboselli
Yes, please. It's a two way street, if they want the traffic, open the
content. We all know there's clear value to the traffic a well positioned HN
post brings.

~~~
Gys
Its a two way street, but I think it works differently: they have good
articles because they make the money to create them. So if a paywall works
best for them then we have to accept that.

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smileysteve
Nay. The Wall Street Journal and NY Times have garnered great discussion here
on technical and business topics.

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jamesmp98
I like the idea, but might people who have access to the content accidentally
forget that others have to pay for it?

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Shank
I think that even if a policy were implemented that banned paywalls, it would
be extremely difficult to enforce. For readers who have subscriptions, it may
be non-obvious during submission that it's going to end up paywalled for
guests. Some sites have anti-ad-blocking technology, which only have a paywall
if adblocked (like The Atlantic). How would these sites be classified?
Similarly, does it really count as a paywall if the site has a counter that
requires payment after x visits? Some percentage of readers won't hit it, and
some will. Keeping track of which sites have these types of soft paywalls
might be overly taxing.

I think the current stance is fine, just because it's easier for moderation to
deal with. Trying to keep a running blacklist or implementing some kind of
detector would be difficult. Responding to an article once it's on the front
page would be useless, as you'd have discovered it only by trial and error in
the first place.

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zafiro17
I disagree: if it's a site I can't access, that's my problem. I am in favor of
more news services instituting paywalls. The problem is related to the failure
of advert-driven news sites to survive, and the ongoing advert-blocker
warfare. Quality reporting may well need revenue streams that adverts alone
can't provide. Therefore, by preferring "free" sites you are biasing away from
sites that may have chosen to require payment in order to ensure quality.

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ghettoimp
It would at least be nice to have a clear tag to indicate that the content
you're going to is behind a paywall, e.g.,

[PAYWALL] I criticized Google. It got me fired. That’s how corporate power
works

~~~
grzm
One could argue the clear tag you're asking for is already there in the form
of the source that's included with every submission.

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Gys
I enjoy reading HN too and have no access to any paywalled content. Still, I
think the discussion is more important. Therefore people who do have access
should have a platform to discuss about subjects. That platform being HN.

I would feel more left out if I would miss the discussion completely, because
things are discussed elsewhere.

We do not need to participate all in every discussion ;-)

~~~
YouKnowBetter
Agree fully to the "I think the discussion is more important". As a matter of
fact, I (think) what I read on HN is about 80% of the discussions, and visit a
mere 20% of the links. So keep m comming these Paywall links, I care not much
about them.

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neilellis
Agreed, yay.

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trevyn
Yay. They don't deserve the traffic.

