The New York Post has started blocking access to its website on the iPad as a way to drive those customers in the direction of the paid NY Post app in the App Store. Trying to access the paper via the Safari browser on the iPad results in a redirect page that points them to the app, as well as a few other basic services.

While Safari is a no-go, Staci Kramer of PaidContent notes that NY Post's site works fine through the alternative browsers Skyfire and Opera Mini. "It is one of the most poorly conceived paywall efforts I’ve come across," Kramer says.

When New York Times raised its paywall, it made one big concession to readers and left the paid parts of their site accessible through social networking links and search engine results. But the NY Post has even botched this: clicking links from Facebook on the iPad redirect to the screen size app advertisement, while links from Twitter will display the articles in Twitter's in-app browser just fine.

As a Murdoch publication, the NY Post appears to be getting pushed in the direction of The Daily, which exists only as a paid app on the iPad. The NY Post app costs $1.99 to download and gets the customer 30 days of access; after that, it's $6.99 for one month, $39.99 for six months, or $74.99 for a year. By comparison, The Daily is free to download, and costs 99 cents a week or $39.99 for a year's subscription.

By clicking one of the buttons on the NY Post redirect page, users can also subscribe to the electronic edition of the NY Post and get access to the web page—again at various prices, including $9.18 for four weeks or $93.30 for the year. We're surprised that the NY Post isn't pimping this harder than their app, given that Apple recently relaxed their restrictions on making website content available through iPad or iPhone apps, so companies no longer have to route subscriptions through their App Store.