New York Post blocks iPad Safari users

[1992casey]

Beginning last Saturday, the New York Post has blocked access to its site by anyone trying to access it via Safari on iPads. They want iPad users to buy their new iPad app and pay a $6.99 per month subscription fee. Never mind that the site is still free if you use Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, iPhone, Blackberry, or any browser other than Safari on an iPad.

 

In an article titled The New York Post Erects Most Egregious Paywall Yet, The Atlantic's Nicholas Jackson describes this as "a digital assault that risks offending readers and turning them to alternative news sources for good." He goes on to say, "You can't even see the newspaper's front page or a list of story headlines before being presented with a full-page message alerting you that 'editorial content is now only accessible on the iPad through the New York Post App.'"

 

A screen capture of this front page is provided by Dave Winer. You can click on the picture to see a larger version.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/5846145024_a2870f930f.jpg

 

Staci D. Kramer states, "The NYP literally is blocking the web for a subset of users…, targeting the way someone accesses the web to keep readers out. You can’t even see the front page or the day’s front/back cover images. For iPad users relying on Safari, it is as though the site exists only as a billboard for an app."

 

It looks to me like The Post thinks people are dolts.

[JoeHova]

Luckily it's only the Post doing this so far. With any luck, they'll catch so much backlash that sites that are actually worth reading will decline to follow suit.

[Invader3K]

You can get free news from so many sites and applications nowadays. Who would pay that much for something that is free elsewhere?

[thebruce44]

Can't you just use a different browser on your iPad?

[1992casey]

Definitely. That's one thing that makes this so odd. All iPad browsers other than Safari can still access The Post.