Life and business is all about 3rd parties and working with and against them. It's quite easy to say that things should just be better but it's not like all these publishers are stupid and just sitting around not trying to come up with better solutions. This is actually the best we have at this moment without a massive shift in how the web works.
The fact is that the internet makes things very easy to take without repercussions. Physically walking into a store and taking something has consequences but a quick hack on the browser is basically unnoticeable. The abilities and democracy of the internet architecture facilitates the extraction of content without compensation. Just because it's easy though, doesn't make it "right".
> Just because it's easy though, doesn't make it "right".
If something is both easy and rewarding for those who do it, don't base your business on trusting people not to do it.
Consequentially, don't base your morality code on a notion of "people shouldn't do it". They shouldn't do it because it hurts businesses, but it only hurts businesses because they're foolish enough to make the first mistake.
I believe your foundation for this argument is flawed and doesn't answer my statement: just because something is easy, does not make it right.
"People shouldn't do it" is the fundamental way laws and regulations work. You shouldn't damage property or steal items or assault people. But you can. Very easily. And depending on when/where/how you can probably get away with it. Does that make it ok?
Actions in the physical world have very lasting effects and, these days, leave a big trail which allows the proper authorities to catch the bad actor and dispense justice (the topic of what is proper justice being out of scope for this thread). The digital world is much harder with things happening instantaneously with very little if any trail. If publishers could catch you, they would. Realistically, they just can't. But this lapse in their abilities does not empower and justify your abilities to do what should not be done.
Business models are a completely separate topic and, yes, it's usually good to align the model with normal consumer action. However, human nature is to always take with the path of least resistance and in the case of "value", to acquire it for nothing in exchange if possible. Most businesses work because they can block any access to that value without a proper exchange. Internet publishing however is very unique in that the very structure of the web which makes it so open is also what makes it impossible to stop and effectively filter anyone. The paywall is one such filter but they have this opening for access to Google listings and let a few users be randomly awarded free content. If there was a way they could be listed on Google without losing their paywall, they would, and this whole situation would be non-existent.
But just because something hurts a business doesn't make it wrong, either. And it's worth considering that businesses are amoral entities - given the chance, most of them will gladly screw you if it increases their revenue.
With that in mind, why should a rational human choose to apply morality to an entity that has no obligation to do the same in return?
(This is not a value judgement on WSJ in particular, more a general statement as to the way of the world)
The way I see it, there are two arguments for this plugin to not exist:
1) "What if everyone does it? If everyone does it, WSJ makes no money and goes away". The appeal to utility. Problem is, it carries the unstated and unsubstantiated assumption that enough people will use this plugin to actually impact their profits in a measurable way.
Because of that, I call this argument invalid.
2) "It goes against the wishes of the content providers". The appeal to morality - but as mentioned above, this is strictly a one way consideration, and it's subjective for each person. There's also the moral consideration that WSJ has chosen to make this content visible for Google users, but only because Google forbids showing different content to the spider and to the human. Then, you're left answering an objectively unanswerable question - is a person who googles for most of their news and ends up on the WSJ often doing something wrong? Or does it only apply when you install the plugin and circumvent the company's intent?
The net effect on WSJ's profit is the same either way.
It's not about hurting the business. It's not just "wishes". That's the legal framework, also laid out in their terms of service.
You're breaking the contract that the content "value" is provided in exchange for something, either attention on ads or cash, depending on the publisher. This is what makes it wrong.
The real issue is that the internet does not allow for effective policing and capture of contract offenders. It's wrongs being committed with no consequence, but this does not justify it being done.
But if I'm on their site reading their content and linking to their other content and looking at their ads, how am I not fulfilling that "contract"? Attention is what they wanted, attention is what they got.
That contract I never was given a chance to read, or sign, or agree to in any way, mind. Given that, i'm not sure how you can say refusing to do something I never agreed to do in the first place is morally wrong.
This is my whole point - the distinction is entirely arbitrary because WSJ obviously values the attention more than they value the money, else we would be having this conversation right now.
There's no taking going on here. Taking something implies a transfer of possession, leaving one party no longer in possession of that thing. My browsing a web page does not result in such an outcome.
Taking is not zero-sum. Virtual existence does not disqualify ownership or rights. Content is intangible but still carries value, the same way millions of people can have a copy of a song but it is still property.
Receiving that value in the form of content without compensation, either by viewing ads or paying money, is still "taking" it against the wishes of the provider.
The fact is that the internet makes things very easy to take without repercussions. Physically walking into a store and taking something has consequences but a quick hack on the browser is basically unnoticeable. The abilities and democracy of the internet architecture facilitates the extraction of content without compensation. Just because it's easy though, doesn't make it "right".