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Adblock Plus Victorious Again In Court

New submitter Xochil writes: AdBlock Plus has successfully defended itself in court for the second time in five weeks. The Munich Regional Court ruled against media companies ProSiebenSat1 and IP Deutschland. The companies sued Eyeo, the company behind Adblock Plus, asking the court to ban the distribution of the free ad-blocking software, saying it hurts their ad-based business model. An Eyeo release says in part: "We are elated at the decision reached today by the Munich court, which is another win for every internet user. It confirms each individual’s right to block annoying ads, protect their privacy and, by extension, determine his or her own internet experience. This time it also confirms the legitimacy of our Acceptable Ads initiative as a compromise in the often contentious and rarely progressive world of online advertising."

11 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. Love it by JMJimmy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Today is also a sad day for internet users, because AdBlock Plus jeopardizes the financing options for all free internet sites. We still feel it is inadmissible under copyright and antitrust laws, and it is an anti-competitive attack on media diversity and freedom of the press. Therefore, we will review the options for appeal and further legal action against Eyeo.”

    I don't think they understand that they are free to publish whatever they want... but we are also free to ignore/cut up/block the stuff we don't want. I call that a win. If it means a bunch of publishers go out of business and the internet gets less commercial, I'm fine with that too.

    1. Re:Love it by Frobnicator · · Score: 5, Informative

      As this is the forth lawsuit, it may just be Eyeo that goes out of business due to the lawyer fees.

      Germany is one of several nations that adopted a "loser pays" civil litigation model. I think they recovered all legal costs in another case, but don't recall which one and don't feel like looking it up.

      The ruling likely specifies that ProSiebenSat1 and IP Deutschland are liable for all or nearly all of the costs in this case, and Eyeo is likely have only the cost of their time.

      --
      //TODO: Think of witty sig statement
  2. Re:"Annoying ads" by Ostrich25 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not true. You can block all ads. https://adblockplus.org/accept...

  3. Boo hoo for your business model ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why the hell do corporations think their business model is a guaranteed right, or that it confers any obligations on anybody else?

    My business model involves being given millions of dollars to engage in acts of debauchery with college girls.

    So far I've been having a hard time coming up with the millions of dollars. Or the college girls. Or the acts of debauchery. Most of them seem awfully complicated and there's stuff on TV.

    Who do I sue about that? (No, really, I need to know this. ;-)

    I should be given my millions of dollars to commit debauchery with college girls ... because ... business model!!

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  4. Re:Out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1: Stop using them to track users, you want to show a text ad, fine Ill deal with it, but if you're going to track me across multiple sites then I block you.
    2: Make them text based, or at least no flashing colors etc..
    3: Stop using Flash, which is another attack vector
    4: Stop selling our personal information to every single spammer that offers you money for our info
    5: Make the site more than 75% content to 25% ads
    6: Secure your servers so we aren't being attacked from letting your ads through

    When you accomplish those simple things you may see a difference in the amount of people letting ads through, till then, go to hell.

  5. Re:Out of curiosity by easyTree · · Score: 5, Insightful

    10. No more "32 top reasons to click through 32 pages of eights ads" - type BS; thank you so much in advance.

  6. Re:Out of curiosity by easyTree · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here in Manchester (UK), there are an increasing number of HUGE eye-searingly bright digital displays on buildings, roadsides, on the sides of bridges under which the road passes... They are generally the slightly more upmarket version of the flash ads begging you to click - irritatingly distracting. I find it interesting that whoever grants these licenses would so casually prioritize ad revenue over driver safety. It's almost as if they don't actually care.

  7. Re:Out of curiosity by easyTree · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am not a "lost" sale - I was never a potential "sale" in the first place.

    Omg, communist! By using AdBlock you have robbed the advertising ghouls of the opportunity to perform a non-customer to customer conversion against your will, using their superior ad-fu. It's just not something that should happen in a free and democratic police state. Shame on you =S

  8. Re:"Annoying ads" by Firethorn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Personally, I allow the adblock allowed ads. Not many sites use them.

    Sites I frequent that give me the 'Please disable your adblocker' I tend to respond with(and yes, I've used their forum/webmaster address to do this) 'Then use adblocker approved ads'.

    After about the 3rd time the ad sites tried to serve me malware it became more about protecting my computer than anything else. The fact that many sites are unusable to the point that I wonder if their web-admin is even testing the sites without an ad blocker doesn't help.

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    I don't read AC A human right
  9. Banksy On Advertising by houghi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    âoePeople are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from the buses that imply youâ(TM)re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

    You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

    Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. Itâ(TM)s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

    You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially donâ(TM)t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, donâ(TM)t even start asking for theirs."

    â" Banksy

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  10. Re:"Annoying ads" by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually their acceptable ads (which you can turn off with a single checkbox and they even offer the option on first install) is exactly what I've been saying for years should be the only ads allowed due to security concerns,

    1.- Static only (no Flash or Java, but they go one further and put no animations like GIFs), 2.- No "pop up/ under" ads blocking content (which is more likely to cause the user to click to try to move it, thus making it a good target for a malware link) but again they go farther with actual size requirements, 3.- Ads have to be clearly labeled as ads (so no fake security dialog boxes or images the user might click on concealing ad links) and yet again they go farther than I came up with by rules for borders and a bunch of rules for hyperlinks.

    So as long as advertisers follow these rules? The odds of an ad based malware attack drops right off the chart. All your usual threats, third party flash, fake links, etc are removed from the equation. Most of us have no problem with the sites we use having a few adverts to stay afloat but what we DO very much have a problem with is putting users at risk for the profit of website owners. the ABP acceptable ads rules seems to address this concern and goes above and beyond so ATM I can really find no fault with the system.

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    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.