Great read as always @DavidMtl.
There’s a lot to be said about convenience vs cost. When you’re allowed to experiment to find the balance - Paywalls and Piracy (now there’s a catchy title) - what you end up with is a healthy marketplace.
EDIT: Have you considered integrating the Pay per “Like” proposal into this? That would bring a reputation aspect to this paywall idea along with income for the network. (I have ideas on how, but wanted to suggest the initial premise first)