Wednesday, January 16, 2013

MediaPass Powers Weekly World News Paywall

In the quest to re-make the business of publishing and journalism, there's been a lot of hand wringing and debate over the merits and complexities of online paywalls. One Los Angeles startup is helping the industry to figure it all out, with its software, which helps online publishers easily implement online paywall and subscription plans. Now, MediaPass signed up another big customer for its software this week, Weekly World News. MediaPass is powering a paywall solution for Weekly World News, providing the software which makes it easier for existing online publishers put a pay model into place.

The firm's software intercepts requests for pages, and helps publishers control what is paid, available by metered access, or available only through a subscription. The firm is looking to make it easier for any publisher--without the deep pockets of such publications as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times--to implement their own paywall. Financial details of the latest deal with Weekly World News were not announced. MediaPass is headed by Matthew Mitchell, and its financial supperters that include angels Jeff Stibel of D&B Credibility, Jeff Tinsley of MyLife, and others.

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