Your estimate is off by at least 100% as I don't bother with a VPN. The Firewall cracks down on them every now and then so money wasted.

The real problem with reading NYT articles isn't the Chinese Firewall anyway, it's NYT itself. About a year ago they put up their own NYT Firewall so only 20 articles a month will make it to my computer. Now it's only 10 a month. Because it's late in the calendar month (i.e. 27th), NYT wouldn't serve the page anyway.

Perhaps people criticizing the Chinese Firewall should think hard about why the NYT has a Firewall. Is the basic concept really all that different? After all, money and markets are just another form of political control, aren't they?

Some may not have had the best luck. China has been actively trying to block VPN providers as well, and even StrongVPN was apparently affected earlier in the year. Actually I'm a little surprised that they haven't gone after them harder, even if it seems pointless (since I assume the vast majority of people using them are other expats).

I'm on vacation in China right now, and my VPN isn't working in China (somehow...), so I've decided to take break from Facebook/Twitter as long as my Gmail is working - and now apparently from NYT

So thanks for the paste bin!

Pshaw, sir, pshaw, I say! The gentleman is not alone. Some of us don't even have decent home internet, let alone a VPN and must rely .upon their smartpone for sweet, sweet internet access