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Judge OKs Competitive Pop-Up Ads
Mirkon writes "A while back, U-Haul filed suit against adware giant WhenU for displaying competing advertisements to users as they browsed U-Haul's site. Friday, District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee's ruling dismissed U-Haul's suit, saying '...the fact is that the computer user consented to this detour when the user downloaded WhenU's computer software from the Internet,' and 'Alas, we computer users must endure pop-up advertising along with her ugly brother, unsolicited bulk e-mail, "spam," as a burden of using the Internet.' While the ruling was issued in the context of unfair competitive marketing, it's speculated that this will have broad implications in the fight against adware - and they aren't kind to the user. WhenU chief executive Avi Naider is unfortunately quoted as saying 'This is a victory for consumer choice -- it ultimately protects consumers' right to control what they see on their computer screens.'"
Oh, I'm a Republican
I got a small schling
I like to bomb niggahs
and make a lot o' bling
I got a bunch o' friends
in high up places
They helps me get dem
government graces.
You think I'm smart
I just know who's who
I couldn't run a fruit stand
without the red white & blue
I'll drop some crap
about Jesus the Christ
You'll buy it all
and vote for me twice
'Fact, Jesus is comin'!
Real soon, now!
So we gotta prop up Israel
That ol' sacred cow
Don't need no history
Don't need no schoolin'
I got my ideology
To keep me a shootin'
Liberals! Faggots!
Commies and queers!
Socialist hippies
Full o' pussy tears
Propaganda's m'friend
But I calls it "fact"
Even though I don't read
'Cept for Chick tracts
Facts? No! Don't need em here!
We're conservatives! We work on FEAR!
Don't like what we say?
Well FUCK YOU, bud!
We'll shove it down yer throat
and tell ya it's good!
Haha. Someone hasn't mastered "post anonymously." Dumb fuck.
When judges make their rulings, they have two things to go by. First, they look at the letter of the law. If the law is clear on a specific point, the Judge will usually rule along those lines.
Oftentimes, the law isn't sufficiently clear about something. So judges generally look for past rulings made on related issues. They then make their ruling based on the precedents that other judges have laid down in the past. Today's ruling on pop-ups is a terribly bad thing, because other judges are likely to use it to decide future pop-up cases.
Of course, as other posters have pointed out, there are tools that users can employ to block all pop-ups. The Mozilla browser can solve this problem once and for all.
I guess the question is, how long most users remain clueless about pop-ups and spam, and ignorant about how to block these intrusions. Right now, it's mainly the tech-savvy population that knows how to do this. But I bet in five years' time, all dominant web and email clients will automatically block pop-ups and spam. With any luck, that will render stupid precedents like today's meaningless, and will send wretched companies like WhenU where they belong.
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
Politically Incorrect Dictionary.
... people have been using drugs to treat depression for centuries.
The words listed here are words that are no longer usable, or whose meanings have been altered to make them difficult to use. These were all words which could be freely used at some point in US history, but which modern culture is attempting to stamp out.
Broken Home - Replaced by Dysfunctional family.
Bum - Replaced by Homeless Person.Calling a person a "Bum" implies that the person is a moocher that is too lazy to get a job. Referring to him as a "Homeless Person" removes this stigma, and implies that he would be a perfectly normal citizen if only the government would give him a house.
Crazy - Replaced by the term Mental Illness. And, since it is an illness, it may be treated in the same manner as other diseases - with drugs. Of course, this idea is nothing new
Criminal - Replaced by behaviorally challenged. This is one change that makes sense. A lot of the people in prisons today are not really
"criminals" in the classic sense. Thanks to the "War on Drugs", there are a lot of people in jail because they failed to "behave" properly.
Eastern (As when used when discussing Asian Culture) - Too Eurocentric. Instead, use Africa as your frame of reference. When discussing European culture you should now use the phase "Northern", and when discussing Asia use the phrase "North-Eastern". Now isn't that better?
Factory - Replaced by Plant. The word Factory is a place where mistreated laborers toil long hours to produce pollution that billows forth from gigantic smokestacks. The word Plant is preferred since it is more difficult for this term to carry a negative connotation since this term is also used to describe nature. Its counterpart noun describes plant life (Plants, as in flowers, shrubs, etc). And the Verb form, to plant, is the process of lovingly placing a seed in the ground so it may one day grow into a mighty oak. Who can complain about having a new plant in their backyard?
Fairy - Homophobic. Replaced by Petite airborne humanoid which possesses magical powers. The term fairy should be avoided when discussing these mythical beings, regardless of how gay they may appear.
Fat - Replaced by Enlarged physical condition caused by a completely natural genetically-induced hormone imbalance. Of course, this is very difficult to say in one breath-- so people will find it easier to not say it at all. The term "fat" is simply too short and to direct. It all too clearly points out that the reason that an obese person's skin appears so swollen is because it is being buttressed by large amounts of... well... Fat.
Foreign Food - Replaced by Ethnic Cuisine. The word foreign is generally used when one wishes to refer to something that alien to ones own country -- something that is not normally found within the jurisdiction of your own particular political unit. But with the increasing power of multinational organizations (such as the U.N. and large corporations), nothing can be said to be truly 'foreign' anymore. In a world where you can find a McDonald's in Moscow, a Disneyland in Japan, or a single currency throughout Europe, the word 'Foreign' is losing its meaning.
The word 'ethnic' provides a more accurate way to refer to these cultural traits which are continually growing fainter as we move away from the world of the past, in which different areas of the world were actually unique.
Founding Fathers - Too Sexist. Instead, use the term The Founders. We wouldn't want to exclude all those great female leaders of 18th century America would we?
Garbage Man - Replaced by Sanitation Engineer - A Garbage Man picks up garbage. A Sanitation Engineer engineers it.
Ghetto - Replaced by Economically disadvantaged area. This term is used by politicians who believe money from the Government would solve their problems. (See : State-Socialism)
Girlfriend/Wife - Replaced by Unpaid sex worker
Handicapped - R
I do use Mozilla, however I don't know of any adware that runs on Linux.
Opera
That is a another reason NOT to BUY LOGITEC hardware. I remember calling them about getting win32 drivers for a scanner I bought because they only provided dos drivers, they wanted to charge me 80.00 for the disk, that was 20.00 more than the scanner!!! well I just wnet up to Sears and bought one of thier new scanners copied the win32 drivers from the install disk and returned the scanner. that was the last time I bought ANYTHING from logitec. BLAH.......
sorry for the off topic rant......
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