Etymology From pay + wall, by analogy with firewall.
1
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, SciencesInformal A system that restricts access to content with a purchase or a paid subscription.
The premium content on this website is behind a paywall.
Techdirt got wind of a secret meeting by newspaper execs, complete with antitrust lawyers, to discuss how to proceed on the issue of implementing paywalls going forward.2009 May 29, ScuttleMonkey, “Newspaper Execs Hold Secret Meeting To Discuss Paywalls”, in Slashdot:
2 more examples
Scores of other newspapers started selling digital subscriptions in 2011, either with a paywall on their sites or by charging for mobile access with an e-reader app. […] Time magazine also set up a paywall in 2011, its second attempt in two years, […]2012, Dennis F. Herrick, Media Management in the Age of Giants: Business Dynamics of Journalism. Second Edition., UNM Press, →ISBN, page 332:
As for the larger general-interest dailies, Long Island's Newsday was the first to erect its paywall, in October 2009. It allowed full access for subscribers to the print edition of the paper or the parent company Cablevision, or for people willing to pay $5 per week.2015, Brian Gorman, Crash to Paywall: Canadian Newspapers and the Great Disruption, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, →ISBN, page 140:
Etymology From pay + wall, by analogy with firewall.
1
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, SciencesInformal To restrict access to (a website or other resource) by means of a paywall.