German Supreme Court Rules Ad Blockers Legal (faz.net)

New submitter paai writes: The publishing company Axel Springer tried to ban the use of ad blockers in Germany because they endanger the digital publishing of news stories. The Oberlandesgericht Koln (Germany's Higher Regional Court of Cologne) followed this reasoning and forbade the use of ad blockers on the grounds that the use of white lists was an aggressive marketing technique. [The business model allows websites to pay a fee so that their "non aggressive" advertisements can bypass AdBlock Pro's filters. Larger companies like Google can afford to pay to have the ban lifted on their website.] The Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice or BGH) destroyed this court ruling today and judged that users had a right to filter out advertisements in web pages.

Comments

Re:Just The Facts

[bobbied]

Socialism is caused by bad parenting and laziness.

Maybe it is.. However I think it's actually a learned behavior which is systematically taught though the public education system and under the guise of "not being selfish" and "fairness".

Kids are born understanding capitalism in it's unbridled form. Just watch a group of 2 year olds interact. They have the base concept engrained in them.... I want MORE than you...

The problem is socialism doesn't work for the very reason why 2 year olds act like they do, folks want more but don't want to work for it. It's human nature and it cannot be suppressed enough for socialism to work. It can work in a capitalistic society though. One just have to add the concept of hard work being the means of getting more and that "fairness" is defined as equal opportunity, not equal results and you are there. Those are concepts that many adults don't understand these days... But time and the wisdom that comes with it may fix that.