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Times Online To Charge Users

News International is to impose charges for websites of the Times and Sunday Times in a move that could prompt a stream of newspaper publishers to follow suit.
The-Times.co.uk is the first British newspaper to charge users for the use of its website. Visitors to the site will be charged an annual fee of £10 to join the Times Crossword Club, which will offer additional monthly crosswords and extra daily crosswords. However users will not charged for basic access to the site and the daily Times crossword will continue to be available.
A spokesperson for the Times Online said: “Basic access to the site will continue to be free and users can still access the daily interactive Times crossword without charge. This is not a change of tack, it merely represents an additional revenue stream. Sites like The-Sun.co.uk charge users to download video streams and this is the same thing.”
The move could prompt other newspaper publishers to impose charges for online services. The Telegraph, the FT and the Guardian are said to be exploring the possibility of charging users and the Wall Street Journal already operates a subscription service. BBC Online is also rumoured to be considering plans to start charging users to download TV and radio programmes (see BBC Online To Charge Users?).
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