The Brave browser is unknown to most but it offers some very interesting features. First, it blocks ads and scripts that are a challenge to privacy. As a general practice, I am not a fan of blocking ads because this behavior subverts the desires of authors who provide content with the assumption readers/viewers will be exposed to ads. Brave addresses this problem, but providing a mechanism by which users can compensate content providers. Brave users decide on a monthly contribution and this contribution is divided among content producers weighted by the time the viewer spends on a given site.
Idealistic? I suppose, but something is going to have to give in our present situation. We should not expect something for nothing and we should not have to trade personal information to pay for the content we view. Micropayments seem a reasonable solution.
To receive payments from Brave, you have to register your site. As a user, I am informed which sites are registered and which are not. I was surprised to learn that the NYTimes is not registered.
I don’t pay for the Times, but I do have an online subscription to my local paper (Star Tribune). The Times allows 10 article views per month for free. The combination of 10 Times article and full access to a local quality paper works for me.
Why not also cash in and support the model Brave is developing? Major publishers are caught. They need funds to maintain quality and any news is good enough for many. I understand the Times probably does not want to expand the 10 free article limit as it probably cannot trust consumers to micro pay. I wish they would at least verify the Brave option as an endorsement of this model.