Ad blocking is under attack • Hacker News Board

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#11

Post by j605 » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:15 PM UTC

ehxcaet wrote: post #6

What's to stop people from forking off that list and transitioning to another one? Like what if ad blockers just switched to use EasyList2 instead of EasyList?

Since all this is tracked in version control we can just add it to our filter manually and the problem is solved.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#12

Post by Spivak » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:15 PM UTC

aphextron wrote: post #8

>"This domain accepts GET and POST requests over standard HTTP ports (TCP 80 and TCP 443) via strictly web based traffic originating from browsers" lol

Don't joke. You really don't want to see these kinds of ravenous lawyers try to define website access not from an 'approved' browser as unauthorized access under the CFAA.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#13

Post by gremlinsinc » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:16 PM UTC

Wonder if we could create a git in the blockchain... where DMCA just can't exist/happen since there's no central authority to ask to take stuff down...

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#14

Post by Dolores12 » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:16 PM UTC

Is it safe to type this blocked URL in browser? Will i get sued?

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#15

Post by eli » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:16 PM UTC

This seems a bit hyperbolic. If you believe there's a battle between ad servers and ad blockers, it's obvious the ad blockers are winning by a lot.

IANAL but this seems like a questionable use of DMCA Takedown notice which, in any event, isn't actually binding. EasyList could probably file a counternotification and risk a lawsuit.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#16

Post by romanovcode » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:17 PM UTC

ehxcaet wrote: post #6

What's to stop people from forking off that list and transitioning to another one? Like what if ad blockers just switched to use EasyList2 instead of EasyList?

As long as code is hosted in U.S. (GitHub) the cat and mouse game will continue.

If you host your repo in some other country that does not care about U.S. DMCA then it should be fine.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#17

Post by slaymaker1907 » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:18 PM UTC

gremlinsinc wrote: post #13

Wonder if we could create a git in the blockchain... where DMCA just can't exist/happen since there's no central authority to ask to take stuff down...

I think IPFS would be a better bet than block chain for this.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#18

Post by aphextron » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:18 PM UTC

richardknop wrote: post #4

There has been a growing trend of websites that will ask me to either: a) whitelist their site in my adblocker b) or subscribe to their monthly subscription and keep reading their site with adblocker

Which results every single time in choosing option C: the browser back button.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#19

Post by mnarayan01 » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:18 PM UTC

Via https://github.com/easylist/easylist/commit/a4d380ad1a3b33a0... by one of the Easylist maintainers:

> If it is a Circumvention/Adblock-Warning adhost, it should be removed from Easylist even without the need for a DMCA request.

Anyone know why he's saying this?

Edit: I guess he's referring to the following via https://easylist.to/2013/05/10/anti-adblock-guide-for-site-a...:

> Anti-Adblock should only be challenged if the system limits website functionality or causes significant disruption to browsing

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#20

Post by tyingq » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:20 PM UTC

Just encode the list of urls with htmlentities, base64, rot13, whatever. Then the DMCA can't be used to attack it.

Edit: Disagree? Please comment. It's attackable via the DMCA because the word/brand is in the file in it's copyrighted form. If you encode it such that it isn't in that form, it's protected from that approach.