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If this ever happened to me, there wouldn't be much of a decision-making process. I'd either roll back the OS to a version that actually works (eg doesn't have the ad shit), disable the ad thing somehow (even if it means going crazy with the hosts file), or, failing all of that, just install Windows on my mini.

I did the same thing with tynt.com - That it's an ad/analytics thing is one thing. That the assholes break twenty-plus years of clipboard DWIM in the process, however.... unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable. Fortunately, you can add tcr.tynt.com to your hosts file - problem solved.

I work for Tynt. I appreciate the discussion here and want to make sure that everyone knows we want to be respectful of the opinions here. Not sure i I will get flamed just for wading in, but I hope not.

To clarify on a few points

1. Tracking and Attribution – the attribution feature is separate from the tracking features. The tracking features work very much like any other analytics tool. We do not store any personally identifiable information, but we do want to help publishers learn what content people are choosing to preserve and promote. In addition, publishers can turn the attribution feature on or off on their sites. If you want to see what is actually collected - sign up for an account and look at the dashboard, you will see that we are tracking the content, not the user.

3. What if I don’t want this behavior? We are currently working on a global opt out for users who would rather not have Tynt monitor them. In the interim you can opt out on a site by site basis (i.e. the opt out for the SF Gate is here: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/faq.shtml#faq1.5%23ixzz0bxLIAbL7). More info on how to not have Tynt monitor you is available in our FAQs here: http://www1.tynt.com/faq-technical-topics#ixzz0bxGzIgPZ

but as pointed out in the comments here, NoScript is a very effective tool for this.

Derek

thats all good and well.

Except:

What happens when the owner of Tynt decides to sell the company? Is the new owner going to keep doing what you say your doing?

We are talking about the tech world, where new startups get bought up left and right.

how about if someone happens to copy and paste something that isn't legal in possible the USA but is okay in another country. You going to give up all the info on the person at the request of the law enforcement?

Honestly, I don't like how you choose to make your paycheck. I seriously hope this sort of business model doesn't pan out, and that you, well, go broke, and do the honorable thing.

Will adding http://.tynt.com/* to adblock suffice?

That info, and my IP address, is sent to a third-party, theoretically for the purpose of appending a URL to the end of the text. Is that data also used for something else? Most likely.

There's nothing theoretic about it - they spell it out in large letters on their website. It's all about data mining first and foremost; autolinking is actually an optional add-on, and even then it's advertised as "driving up more visits" - i.e. it's a feature for site owners, not for end users.

Information obtained by virtue of your visiting TYNT web sites

When you use TYNT Products, we will collect the following information:

1. The Internet domain and IP address from which you access the TYNT Products;
2. The type of browser and operating system used to access the TYNT Products;
3. Screen resolution of your monitor;
4. The date and time you access the TYNT Products;
5. The page you are visiting with the TYNT Products;
6. If you linked to a TYNT web site from another referring web site, the address of that web site.

By using the TYNT Products, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed both within and without the United States of America

They don't allow anyone to opt out of their "service" either. I guess if you want something from one of their customers, then maybe heading to a competitor would be smarter choice.

Check out Tynt's privacy policy. The "Information obtained by virtue of your visiting TYNT web sites" section is particularly interesting. http://www1.tynt.com/privacy-policy

Since the average content copied is between 200 and 300 words, even a site with only 100,000 page views would have up to 3 million words leave the site via copy each month (not to mention all the images!). That's also a lot.

Man, if people took that many words from my website a month, my pages would all be empty in no time! I better go check to be sure nothing's left my site. Fortunately I have local backup copies I can replenish the words from.

They also use http://wau.tynt.com/javascripts/TyntLite.js for some pages, so I'd recommend adding http://*.tynt.com/* if your blocking system supports multiple wildcards.

Probably Derek Ball

I work for Tynt. I appreciate the discussion here and want to make sure that everyone knows we want to be respectful of the opinions here. Not sure i I will get flamed just for wading in, but I hope not. To clarify on a few points 1. Tracking and Attribution – the attribution feature is separate from the tracking features. The tracking features work very much like any other analytics tool. We do not store any personally identifiable information, but we do want to help publishers learn what content people are choosing to preserve and promote. In addition, publishers can turn the attribution feature on or off on their sites. If you want to see what is actually collected - sign up for an account and look at the dashboard, you will see that we are tracking the content, not the user. 3. What if I don’t want this behavior? We are currently working on a global opt out for users who would rather not have Tynt monitor them. In the interim you can opt out on a site by site basis (i.e. the opt out for the SF Gate is here: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/faq.shtml#faq1.5%23ixzz0bxLIAbL7). More info on how to not have Tynt monitor you is available in our FAQs here: http://www1.tynt.com/faq-technical-topics#ixzz0bxGzIgPZ but as pointed out in the comments here, NoScript is a very effective tool for this. Derek

I wonder if they tracked me copying the URL for their page - Why Tynt Insight?

Just add a filter to to Adblock Plus in Firefox. Go to Adblock Plus's preferences page, click Add Filter and enter:

http://tcr.tynt.com/*

Then just click OK or Apply.

He could use http://tynt.com/ to indicate the truthiness. For example http://tynted.com/0LVPDtCI1090D