MESSAGE
| DATE | 2015-05-28 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] adblock is legal... who knew?
|
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2410395/adblock-plus-wins-another-court-battle-against-annoyed-advertisers
Adblock Plus wins another court battle against annoyed advertisers
German court rules in favour of the little guy for the second time in a
month
By Chris Merriman
Thu May 28 2015, 10:43
Adblock Plus logoADBLOCK PLUS owner Eyeo has won a second court victory
in five weeks, successfully defending the use of its browser extension.
A court in Munich ruled that German TV broadcasters were wrong in their
assertion that Adblock Plus is "anti-competitive" and that it threatened
the market by offering its users "free content".
RTL and ProSiebenSat.1 are the latest in a string of companies that
would rather the practice of ad blocking was outlawed.
The German publishers of Die Zeit and Handelsblatt were defeated in a
Hamburg courtroom last month, and more litigation is pending from
another publisher, Axel Springer.
Adblock Plus treads a fine line, and is criticised from all sides to
some extent. Militant privacy campaigners are miffed that it offers a
white list for advertisers that want the program to 'look the other way'
and let their content through.
It's known that Amazon, Microsoft and Google have all paid for this
service. Adblock Plus said that it has strict criteria on the nature and
content of ads that it lets through, regardless of the payment.
The company announced a dedicated Android browser last week based on
Firefox, which circumvents adverts with encryption, unblockable by the
extension.
iOS users have been promised a version too, but it will depend on them
finding a way round Apple Store rules on third-party browsers and the
use of the Apple rendering engine.
|
|
