So checking a couple of Google News articles, I came across an identical, blocking front panel: This appears to be the next version of "The Patch," an earlier newspaper 'pay wall.' In the past, individual papers have implemented access limit counters or trimmed pages . . . the 'pay wall.' Of course it was and remains impractical to claim exclusive news access on a paper-by-paper basis as other news sources simply 'republish' excepts without a pay wall. But this new 'pay wall' is clever if easily defeated. Without even giving a second thought, the saved HTML source easily renders without the 'pay wall.' But this raises an interesting question about how to pay for reporters, the content generators. For example, the right side of the same page has a big advertisement. As for the article, it would have pissed me off to pay for what is essentially a reworked, press release with a little reporter twist. It was written as if the 'Prius v' comes with the accident avoidance package which I suspect remains an expensive option after buying the top trim model. The reporter does not understand the costs associated with that package. So how would anyone get a refund for a misleading article? I don't have an answer as much as amused by this latest attempt. Bob Wilson
