Who, precisely, is getting my nickel? I don't think it's the NYT.

[edit] Bootlegging digital copies of news articles to try to spur adoption of a micropayment service seems pretty shady.

This seems hard to justify, ethically. The NYT have the right to charge for their content, even if that turns out not be a sound business move.

I don't totally understand what's going on here.

This seems like a scam site that will get around the NY Times pay-wall if I pay a toll. Where is the money going? If the money goes to NYTforanickle then I call bullshit at best, something akin to Mafia protection money at worst.