I'm skeptical that the number is actually $40 million, but no one has pointed out the NY Times is not implementing a simple no-pay, no-content paywall. That's a known quantity. What they're implementing is a semi-porous wall that allows people to read 20 articles a month without paying, and I assume allows web-crawlers to index the content. They're trying to toe the line between something that lets the world get to their content, but still gets them revenue. I am unaware of a similar system, nor have I ever tried to design one.
