The site went free in 2007 presumably in the belief that the firm could make more money from advertising than it could from subscriptions.

But according to New York magazine the paper is set to go with a metered system something like that used by the FT - which lets you read a set number of articles a month then asks you to subscribe. The alternative was to follow the Wall Street Journal which allows free access to some parts of the site but charges for the majority of its stories.

The magazine suggests the move could be linked to the imminent, rumoured arrival of Apple's slate or e-reader machines - which are meant to be arriving 27 January.

More ... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/18/nyt_charges_again/