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24/7 Sues DoubleClick Over Patent
whitefox writes "Another ZDNet article states that advertising network 24/7 has sued DoubleClick over patent infringement, this one for 'On-Line Interactive System and Method for Providing Content and Advertising Information to a Targeted Set of Viewers.' " The irony here is almost delicious.
That which you call irony is NOT irony.
It's coincidence, or meaningful juxtaposition. In Arsenio Hall's words, they're just things that make you go "hmm."
Irony is very rare. It's when things are OPPOSITES, CONTRASTED, and UNEXPECTED.
It was ironic that Ted Kaczynski thought the world would be a better place without technology, but he was caught when his UNABOMBer's Manifesto was published on the Internet. It was coincidence that it happened to be his own brother who recognized the writing and turned him in.
[
``We understand that a complaint was filed. We have not yet seen the complaint. However, based on our initial review of the patent, we believe that any claim of infringement would be baseless. We will defend ourselves vigorously.''
- Elizabeth Wang, DoubleClick's vice president and general counsel
They forgot to mention in the article... that she goes on to say "And anyone out there who wants to argue about it, we know where you live"
Hmm, there are ads here (and even if there weren't, we've still got "Advertising informaiton" in the form of reviews & individual posts), and Slashdot is definitely targeting a certain set of viewers. You know what this means? No more Slashdot! Or Freshmeat, for that matter! Or CNN, or Fatbrain, or Microsoft home page....
Then again, maybe the patent's not that bad....
-Denor
i don't mind the ads, but it is the idea of tracking my movements on the Net that I hate.
So opt out of the DoubleClick tracking system by setting your DC ID# to "OPT_OUT". (You can do that from the User Friendly strip's home page.) That way, DC can still serve ads and make the web site freebeer, but DC can't track your "pr0n in one window, Pinocchio on Gutenberg in another, Precious Moments on eBay in a third" surfing habits.
I am an exit.Will I retire or break 10K?
In another perspective, regular TV and cable bombards us with ads, but these folks can only guess at who we are and sometimes don't even realize we're watching (that is why when I watch the Canandian channels, I get to see the MOLSON-I AM CANADIAN ad). Or if I watch THE VIEW on ABC, there's a panapoly of ads for makeup, kids videos, shampoo for women, etc. all targeting the housewife market. I don't mind these ads, since I realize the TV stations have to make money from somewhere.
My solution to the problem is that I regularly hose the cookie file on my box every so often. It gets the job done at least.
On the other hand, I get a chuckle from some of the ads that I do see, especially when I see ads for PAMPERS and LINUX products and outdoor paraphernalia in the same browing session. I have to wonder what my profile at one of these marketing houses looks like...
This is another view of the world.
Going to DoubleClick's opt-out page is the lame way to handle this because you still end up playing by their rules.
They waste your time making you go to a page to opt out of a system they shouldn't have put you in in the first place, and then THEY STILL SHOW YOU ADS.
The right way to spend your time is setting up the JunkBuster HTTP proxy, which screens out both ads and cookies from offending sites such as doubleclick and anyone else you put on your list.
The JunkBuster HTTP proxy is GPL'ed. You can get it at http://www.junkbuster.com/.
Good day, This is a bit off topic but it deals with DoubleClick. I run port sentry on my home network(on a linux box that is acts as a proxy uesing Socks) any way port sentry logs any one that tyrs to connect to me and on several ocation I have noted that some IP that is regersted with DoubleClick will try to connect to port 7 (echo port), they start at about 1:00amCST and go till 3 or 4am some time up to 200 trys a night. I do not have any logs of this anymore (I think I sent it to them once never herd back) has any one seen this type of thing befor??
On-line interactive system and method for providing content and advertising information to a targeted set of viewers
I'm sorry, but all of this privacy stuff sounds like paranoia to me. I'd be happy if companies that I might actually be interested in could get their ads to me, rather than companies I couldn't care about.
The junk mail I get from "Windows Magazine" or "Windows NT Administration Conferences" or home furnishing catalogs or other BS I don't want.
If there's a product I might be interested, I wouldn't mind hearing about it. In fact, I'd be happy to fill out a detailed profile survey if it would keep companies (whom I'm not interested in) from wasting my time.
Murray Todd Williams
I want to patent something, and I understand that to get your patent accepted, all you have to do is put "On-line" in front of it!
..."
How about this:
"An On-line method of keeping and modifying a journal corresponding to entries in the Gregorian calendar. This method, comprising a transaction processing front-end, a database back-end, a Gregorian calendar lookup module,
Or this:
"An On-line method of providing illumination on demand. This method, comprising of a Java Servelet that responds to specific user-defined input by displaying a pre-specified color and intensity of light..."
Gosh, the possibilities... Now that it's online, it's a new idea! Can we take this further?
"A method of holding drinks and keeping them cool while in the garage."
Wow, now that we're in the garage, suddenly it's a new patent! I love the US Patent System!
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pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
I hope everyone's used the Opt-out link for Double-Click at http://www.doubleclick.net/optout/.
Is there a similar system for removing yourself from 24/7's system?
http://james.mcglinn.org/