> Difficulties due to search? Well I have difficulties due to search too, when I find an article that briefly tries to appear open access to entice me and then suddenly plasters a client-side paywall on me. That's why I am doing it.
You're only looking at this only from your own selfish perspective, which misses a lot of important stuff.
> I think we're long past using "theft" as an analogy for access to content. If I take a car from you I am depriving you of your car, and I would be able to profit from it if I were to sell it on the black market—that's what makes it theft.
No, that's just a tired bit of bullshit self-justification. When you bypass a paywall, you're depriving the operator of the revenue they were expecting to support their operations. It's like sneaking into a movie theater without paying--if too many people do that, the movie theater will shut down and there won't be any movies playing to sneak into. And even if it doesn't reach that critical mass, you're freeloading off of other paying customers.
> Honestly, what rings hollow to me is so much moralising around wanting people to feel guilty for being able to circumvent the unnecessarily weak paywalls
A lock being weak doesn't mean it's OK to bypass it. Most locks are basically just messages saying you're not allowed to access. I could probably pick the lock to your house or apartment (and I'm not any good at lock picking, those locks usually suck). It sounds like you think it'd be fine if I did that and watched your TV or read your books when you're not home--after all, I wouldn't be depriving you of anything, right?
You're only looking at this only from your own selfish perspective, which misses a lot of important stuff.
> I think we're long past using "theft" as an analogy for access to content. If I take a car from you I am depriving you of your car, and I would be able to profit from it if I were to sell it on the black market—that's what makes it theft.
No, that's just a tired bit of bullshit self-justification. When you bypass a paywall, you're depriving the operator of the revenue they were expecting to support their operations. It's like sneaking into a movie theater without paying--if too many people do that, the movie theater will shut down and there won't be any movies playing to sneak into. And even if it doesn't reach that critical mass, you're freeloading off of other paying customers.
> Honestly, what rings hollow to me is so much moralising around wanting people to feel guilty for being able to circumvent the unnecessarily weak paywalls
A lock being weak doesn't mean it's OK to bypass it. Most locks are basically just messages saying you're not allowed to access. I could probably pick the lock to your house or apartment (and I'm not any good at lock picking, those locks usually suck). It sounds like you think it'd be fine if I did that and watched your TV or read your books when you're not home--after all, I wouldn't be depriving you of anything, right?