German Court Rules Adblock Plus Is Legal

An anonymous reader writes: Following a four-month trial, a German court in Hamburg has ruled that the practice of blocking advertising is perfectly legitimate. Germany-based Eyeo, the company that owns Adblock Plus, has won a case against German publishers Zeit Online and Handelsblatt. These companies operate Zeit.de, Handelsblatt.com, and Wiwo.de. Their lawsuit, filed on December 3, charged that Adblock Plus should not be allowed to block ads on their websites. While the decision is undoubtedly a big win for users today, it could also set a precedent for future lawsuits against Adblock Plus and any other tool that offers similar functions. The German court has essentially declared that users are legally allowed to control what happens on their screens and on their computers while they browse the Web.

Comments

Re:And when capped internet comes then people will

[Trepidity]

Caps are getting more common in the US. One of the biggest national ISPs, Comcast, has been rolling them out city by city. So far still not in most of the country, but they've been rolled out as a "trial" in Atlanta, Memphis, Tucson, etc., and will probably be extended nationally. Here's their FAQ about it.

Re:And the vendor response will be...

[beelsebob]

My response is right-click -> inspect element -> backspace.

Re:I don't even mind ads

[Anne Thwacks]

Being older than you, when an advert appears instead of the content I requested, I assume it is the wrong URL, and try again. When that does not work, I try another URL.

I do not go there to watch ads, and I do not want to watch ads. If I wanted to buy stuff, I would search for stuff. If they do not want their content to be viewed for free, let them put it behind a paywall where I don't have to see it at all.

There is a precedent: If I don't pay to go to the cinema, I dont get to see the movie. I am happy with that. If they put it on the Internet where it can be seen, then it is supposed to be free - like it is on your front garden/window.

Re:And the vendor response will be...

[gstoddart]

I suspect the vendor response will be more along the lines of, "We've detected Ad Block on your computer. You will be unable to view content on this site while this is active."

Fine. And the last thing they'll see of me is the back button.

Companies have two choices ... paywall the heck out of it, or accept that some fraction of people will block your ads. If you want to reach a broader audience, go with the latter. Otherwise, go with the former.

But don't expect us to go all "boo hoo" because you think we should be participating in your ads. I'll continue to block anything which isn't the actual site I visited -- everything else is just parasites.