Slipping Past the Journal's Online Rules

Tired of waiting for Rupert Murdoch to make all of the Wall Street Journal's content free? Wait no more, says Farhad Manjoo at Salon.

You can get most of the Journal's stories, even many of those hidden behind its subscriber wall. Just look for links to the pay-for articles from other sites, such as Digg and Google News. That is, get the headline of a Journal story and do a search on Google News or Digg. Then click on through.

I've tried it. It often works and doesn't seem to raise ethical issues. The Journal obviously welcomes traffic that comes from those other sites. But Google News and Digg don't pick up every Journal article. Manjoo also has an answer for that: Download a piece of software that tricks the Journal site into thinking you're coming from Google News or Digg.

It's a bit deceitful, Manjoo concedes. But he says it's no worse than handing a cashier an expired coupon. Manjoo says it's no transgression to dance around the Journal's "useless and flimsy" curtain. I'm not so sure.

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