Reuters reports that Rupert Murdoch, whose company News Corp is in the process of acquiring the Wall Street Journal, is making preliminary plans to stop charging users to access content on the newspaper's website:

He reiterated his proposal to make the Wall Street Journal's Web site free, rejecting criticism that it would hurt the newspaper. Analysts have said a free wsj.com could be a risky move as the site is a rare Internet property that has managed to attract paying customers.

Murdoch said making the site, which currently charges a annual subscription fee of $99, freely available online would help boost viewership and revenue globally.

"Will you lose $50 million to $100 million in revenue? I don't think so," Murdoch said. "If the site is good, you'll get much more."

One has to assume that the success or failure of new free archives on the New York Times website will play a role in Murdoch's decision. The Times began offering a large portion of its premium archive content at no cost last night at midnight.

[Reuters] Murdoch makes case for free WSJ online

The New York Times, which has long charged for use of its old content on the web, announced early today that it will cease charging for online access to a substantial portion of its archives:

The move comes two years to the day after The Times began the subscription program, TimesSelect, which has charged $49.95 a year, or $7.95 a month, for online access to the work of its columnists and to the newspaper’s archives. TimesSelect has been free to print subscribers to The Times and to some students and educators.

In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986, and some will be free.

The move reflects a growing trend by newspapers to shift away from the pay-for-content revenue model and towards a model with online advertising at its center.

The change will take effect tonight at midnight.

[NY Times] Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site

The ABA Journal recently published an article about the fascinating feud taking place in the courts of my former home: Las Vegas, Nevada...

In this particular showdown, taking place in the Eighth Judicial District Court—the state’s newest and biggest courthouse—newly elected Judge Elizabeth Halverson is cast as a mean, morbidly obese incompetent abusing her power to settle scores accumulated there in her nine years as a law clerk.

Court documents—including the sworn affidavits of county administrators, judges and courthouse staff—contain the following claims:

• Insulting lawyers with sarcasm and taunts about not having contributed to her campaign.

• Applying her own brand of justice, such as talking to criminal juries during deliberations and outside the presence of the lawyers.

• Treating staffers as though they were her servants.

Within months of Halverson taking the bench in January, her former assistant sued her; a former bailiff filed a discrimination claim; her law clerk quit; and the courtroom clerk and court recorder were removed, by their request, from her staff.

Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle is, in turn, cast by Halverson as an imperious, overreaching and abusive person, who over several years has leveled a series of personal and professional attacks.

The feud between them culminated May 15, when Chief Judge Hardcastle banned Halverson from the courthouse—a power grab beyond the chief’s legal authority, Halverson says.

This story is all over the airwaves in Vegas, a city whose legal system seems to be encountering serious growing pains of late. Last summer the Los Angeles Times published an investigation into the questionable practices of the city's judiciary. While some reforms were implemented following the Times articles, this latest kerfuffle suggests there's more work to be done.

[ABA Journal] You're NOT the Boss of Me (via Out of the Jungle)

It was reported recently that the New York Times is making its TimesSelect service available for free to all college and university users. Apparently there were complaints about this decision from college libraries who already pay a lot of money to give their students access to the Times archive via ProQuest and other databases. Presumably, free access to TimesSelect would significantly devalue those database subscriptions. As a result, the Times is backtracking a bit, now saying that TimesSelect will only be free for users affiliated with a college or university that already subscribes to one or more database with Times content.

Granted, this slight change in terms won't affect students and faculty at most large universities since they already do subscribe to ProQuest et al. But for users at smaller colleges without the budget for those massive databases, this has to be a huge disappointment. The fact that the change was made in response to librarian complaints is also worrisome. Do we really want to get in the business of encouraging content providers to restrict access to information?

[The Chronicle] The Gray Lady Rethinks Her Place in College Libraries (via The Distant Librarian)

The New York Times is now making TimesSelect available for free to users with a .edu email address. The pay service features the newspaper's archives dating back to 1851, as well as other premium content.

So why is the Times being generous so suddenly?

"It's part of our journalistic mission to get people talking on campuses," says Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager at NYTimes.com. "We wanted to open that up so that college students and professors can have a dialogue."

However, Casey over at Maison Bisson believes the motives may be a little more predictable...

[W]ith fewer than 700,000 Select subscribers and declining (zero?) readership among people under 40, NYT clearly had to do something.... [T]he Times’ Alexa rank has fallen precipitously since the Select launch.

[Editor & Publisher] 'NYT' Opening TimesSelect to Students and Teachers for Free (via Maison Bisson)