Slashdot Mirror
Gator-style Overlay Ads Are Legal, Says Court
donutz writes "C|Net has the scoop: "A federal court has ruled that pop-up ads for rivals of U-Haul International, placed atop the moving company's own site by a third-party software application, are legal." In this case, it was ad serving company WhenU.com placing the ads, but this decision could have a big impact on the court cases that involve competitor Gator."
Popup ads are still legal.
Should people that install Gator (or Gator-clones) on their computer be allowed to drive moving trucks?
Use Python
The court's ruling was correct, there isn't much legal backing for the case. It's more of a case that the adware programs are being general iddiots, and companies don't like it. We just need to start getting more people to download AdAware etc so that they can get a rid of these programs.
Or, someone should hack the adware sites so they put an ad over Microsoft's web page. Then Microsoft will hear about it, get pissed, and start bundling some kind of program to get a rid of the AdWare (just hope that it's not DRM).
That's an interesting thought. An even more grave example would be going to a wesbite like Slashdot and seeing blatant ads for Microsoft. Oh wait....nevermind.
Boom Shanka
...because everyone knows that you don't actually own your computer; it belongs to marketers as soon as you plug it in the the 'Net.
why don't site defacers hack the Gator ad database or create a worm that takes over the Gator client? Then their defacements could be much more interesting!
cpeterso
The problem with doing it via a HOSTS file is that it doesn't understand sub-domains. You have to block www.gator.com, www1.gator.com, www2.gator.com... I think you get the point.
I have heard talk of a peer-2-peer application that would allow me to click on an ad and then select "block" from a list. Every hour, my block list gets circulated around the internet. Eventualy, a master list evolves that effectively blocks every advertisement from every page on the internet.
There are 2 problems I can see with this. First, sites will evolve to not load until you view an ad. If you go to www.slashdot.org, you'd be redirected to adserver.slashdot.org for 60 seconds. Then you'd be redirected back to slashdot.org with a cookie saying you'd viewed the ads.
The second is that you couldn't make money off your app. You might be able to blackmail people into paying for not being blocked, but more likely then not, you'd just be sued once or twice. Without money, you'd lose. In any event, this application would have to be free, GPLed software. That way, when you dropped off the face of the earth, people would be able to take the code and run with it.
In fact, the best thing to do would to have a page on sourceforge that, literally, listed the code to your app. People could copy-and-paste that code into a *.c file and then compile it. If anyone sued, you could claim code-as-speech protection.
I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
So this means I'm allowed to cover a billboard five minutes from my house with a banner that says "www.goatse.cx" in 4500 point font?
i'm so gay.
i'm so a nigger.
The GNAA is so for me...i've spent so long
trying to find more GAYNIGGERS like me...i almost
wept when they let me join and showered me in the
holy GAYNIGGER seed cum-slinging ceremony.
it was a beautifully GAY NIGGER time.