News International announced today that it will start charging users to access its websites for the Times and the Sunday Times, starting from June this year.

The idea seems redundant, when you think about the fact that these are not the only news sources on the web. On the contrary, the web is full of news, giving us information about latest developments faster then ever before. There is no doubt that there will be a certain section of the population who would prefer shelling out the meager amount of about £1 to £2 for the supposed "superior content" on the web. However, majority of us would rather read blogs, social networks, news feeds and other websites offering developments - all for free.

If you look closer, this whole newspaper situation draws parallels with the state of the current music industry. In fact, the situation is almost similar. Only the circumstances differ a bit. The music industry is in its last breaths. It's on the verge of imploding. The newspaper industry, though it hasn't completely collapsed, isn't far behind as well. Many historic titles are out of business already and have shut down, while others are in queue to lock their doors.

The problem that these two industries are facing, are the same - The free content distribution on the web. It's no rocket science. There was a time where people had to buy a record from the record store to hear music; the same was in the case of a newspaper. And that is how they ran their businesses. Music and news had a price on them. What the internet did to them was that it made information and copyright music available to every person connected to the internet, at any place on the planet for free.

The truth is that what Rupert Murdoch is doing, has already been done by the executives of record labels in the music industry - Trying to stop the music that belongs to them, from being shared on the web for no cost. Has it helped its cause? No. No matter how much they try, the web is going to offer the users alternate ways of giving them access to free information. Its not that I am advocating the idea of illegal downloading or having access to free news on the web; what I am saying is, is that it is the nature of the beast? The beast here, being the web.