The newspaper business is struggling as is. Every time a publication is blocked in Europe people complain. Ads were the answer for most online publications, but showing targeted ads now pose a legal risk.
I don't know about their business ops, but I'd suspect they've done the math and decided it isn't worth the effort to change their platform so people can read for free in Europe.
And of course they can offer a subscription.
You also don't need to be tracking anything to be non-compliant.
The same is not true for the LA Times.
Item two: I wouldn't subscribe to a newspaper just because i read articles linked from HN occasionally, so I'll just pass on LA times.
Item three: whenever someone comes up with a working micropayment platform, I might throw them 2-3 cents if they get linked on HN. No more.
Yes, I haven't read the original article. I won't even through the free links. They don't want me, they don't get me.
Still there's an archive.is link listed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17506215