Some New York Times columnists aren't happy that the paper is now charging readers for online access to their work. "I'm sad to lose an awful lot of readers, and a lot of readers in places like China and Pakistan who don't have credit cards or the ability to sign up," Nicholas Kristof tells Editor & Publisher. Says Thomas Friedman, "I have a lot of international readers in places like Egypt, where $50 could be their college tuition for a while." But it turns out there's a way for the Times to keep its global prominence while preventing Americans from freeloading on insights from Kristof, Friedman, et al. There's a precedent set by another newspaper called the Times, across the pond in London, that could be flipped on its head to provide access to New York Times fans in China, Pakistan, and Egypt.

In June 2002, the Times of London began charging only overseas readers for online access. The paper used technology from a US company called Quova that establishes readers' locations based on the Internet Protocol (IP) address of their computers. The paper gave Brits free access, reasoning that most advertisers wanted to reach local readers. But for the New York Times, looking to prevent online freeloaders from cannibalizing its print revenue, the more-logical business model would be to charge readers in countries where it's looking to sell the Times or the International Herald Tribune, and give a break to cash-poor readers in places like Pakistan. (The Times of London, in fact, last year began freeing up much of its site to international readers, in order to "extend our reach overseas," according to the paper's online editorial director.

There is also a precedent stateside: Major League Baseball uses Quova's technology, known as IP geotargeting, to limit online television broadcasts of its games to markets where the games aren't being televized. MLB.TV has been a big success, garnering hundreds of thousands of sales a year, though it's also created a confusing rights landscape. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

If it's good enough for the national pasttime, and good enough for some second-rate Times newspaper, surely it's good enough the New York Times.