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Bypass Paywalls — A chrome extension that unlocks content
Bypass annoying paywalls across the web with a simple browser extension available for free on Github.
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Chris Messina
Top Hunter
Pairs well with my screenshot gallery of paywalls!
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This works insanely well. Props to the maker.
I feel conflicted using this as I understand that paywalls help keep journalism alive but for those quick reads that I need to access this is super helpful.
Maybe paywalls should move to a timed method?
@gabe__perez Equally conflicted - as you say, incredibly useful, but should probably be used with restraint 😂
@nik_hazell some options could be
· Toggle that turns it on/off
· Limiter that limits how many paywalls you can block
· notification that says "You should probably subscribe" if pattern for certain publication develops
@nik_hazell @gabe__perez In the 90's there was this thing called 'Shareware" that only allowed you to use it a few times, and then... also alowed you to use it, but said "please pay" every now and then.
People spent incredible amount of time messing with binaries to remove this annoying message. Every basic-level hacker lesson was about this. It was considered "cool" back then. And making money off software development, just like making money off anything other than stealing credic card numbers, was considered "uncool".
I thought we were past this. I thought we were encouraging people making a humble buck on the Internet in exchange for the value they give us. But no, first people are ecstatic about the extension that hides paywalled results, now this.
@nik_hazell @artem_smirnov1 I think it's a balance due to publications that provide us informative & valuable stories needing support. I LOVE the fact that someone created this and shared it on Github, v internet, hence why I hunted it :)
Could be cool to have a "hackathon" to have makers & builders come up with an alternative way for publications to earn/make money outside of ads/paywall.
Think this is also part of the reason we're seeing the rise of creator economy and things like Substack...but I'll keep that convo for another time. Cheers!
@gabe__perez @artem_smirnov1 yeah that’s completely fair. Have you seen things like Brave Browser “Basic Attention Token” - to reward you for viewing things, and pay content creators.
Magnolia1234's fork (https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/...) has more listed sites, features and frequent updates.
As a content creator myself, I cannot feel enthusiastic about this.
I first post my articles on Medium, behind a paywall. It doesn't pay rent, but as you know, each cent counts.
After some time, I cross-post my articles on my Website (https://dsebastien.net) and on other platforms, where the content is then available for free.
Creators need help to be able to keep creating. Bypassing paywalls is like cracking sharewares in the old days. It might seem "cool", but it actually kills the hope of people putting in the efforts helping others to grow.
Really nice and very comprehensive. I did a develop a small chrome extension with similar use (to read free medium blogs). I thought it would be unjust for the authors of blogs to see their blogs being read for free so never continued on it. I blogged about it at
https://medium.com/@rohansaraf/s... . Kudos to the efforts of the maker and keeping it open source.
@fredbrooker I've always felt the same about the cinema. Paid tickets or mobile phone and car ads, not both
I'm conflicted about this, but the devil on my shoulder wins. He says, "this whole locking up content behind a concealing div and hidden overflow harkens back to the spammy "invisible" text era of SEO--it ranks a page for something the eventual clicker is never going to get." He also tells me "if publishers don't want people bypassing my paywall, then maybe they should only serve the full article to logged-in users."
Still, I suspect I'll feel a little bit dirty every time I see it in my extensions, so I'm taking a pass on installing it.