pay wall

YouTube owner Google is giving the video site a high-class makeover, launching up to 20 premium video channels in a bid to boost revenue. But can a site people think of as the home of laughing babies and funny pets become a destination for web surfers seeking video worth paying for?

The latest frenzy about online copyright issues has arisen over Flipboard, a remarkable iPad app that takes feeds from Facebook and Twitter and pulls the content from their links into an easy-to-read and eye-poppingly attractive magazine format. It could revolutionize the online news business, and not a moment to soon.

The annual subscription for Honolulu Civil Beat is a pricey $240, attracting plenty of skeptics. But don't count it out yet -- Omidyar may have timed the bottom of the paid-content news market well. Watch this space for an indicator of where the news business is headed.

After months of deliberations, The New York Times has finally decided on both a structure for charging readers to access to its popular website and a date when the pay demands will take effect.