This sounds terribly naive and conservative, but he biggest factor here is the public’s willingness to steal. People who would never shoplift will steal movies, music and articles with utter abandon. We have ourselves to blame above any criticism you have over the record labels etc.

This has more to do with music than online news, I for one have no problem with accepting ads on the page pr paying to not have them. In my case here I subscribe for the nominal amount, and accept the ads.