New York Times pounders charging for online content

The party may be over if you, like me, have become accustom to reading the New York Times for free on the internet.  The Washington Post is reporting that:

Chairman Arthur Sulzberger is close to announcing that the paper will begin charging for access to its website, New York Magazine reported on its Web site citing people familiar with internal deliberations.

A final decision could come within days and a plan could be announced in a matter of weeks, Nymag.com reported.

"It will likely be months before the Times actually begins to charge for content, perhaps sometime this spring," the report said.

Several commentators who follow these things have predicted that 2010 would be the year we'd see more financially troubled news agencies begin charging for internet content as a way to stay afloat.  Makes me wonder whether we'll look back on this period as the "good old days" when you could read the newspaper on the internet fro free, by golly! (and gas was only $3.00 a gallon!)

You can read the rest here.

Hat tip to the BNA Internet Law News.

(jbl)