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Ad blocking is under attack

blog.adguard.com

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Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#281

Post by moogly »

15155 wrote: post #202
teraflop wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's worth mentioning that even if an easylist filter entry counts as "circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access" -- which I think is debatable for multiple reasons -- the DMCA takedown procedure only covers copyright infringement . It does not apply to anti-circumvention measures. As Admiral's blog post points out, Github recommends using the same contact procedure for anti-circu…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_A... It most certainly does apply to anti-circumvention in many cases.

But isn't that referring to DRM?

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#282

Post by f4rker »

ad blockers are cool but

1 - they block too much stuff thats not ads

2 - they break sites (I support sites...)

3 - they silently update

4 - their white list dont always work

just today I was white listing something and no matter what it didnt work.

Ad blockers (and their list) have been a bit lazy, and can stand to do better.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#283

Post by dangrossman »

hokkos wrote: post #254

Github should have protected easylist from this bullshit DMCA request, here it is on github : https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/ff44d37f62d772bfec5fd432... Github is the culprit here.

Why should Github take on unlimited liability for someone else's code? If a judge agrees that blocking this anti-circumvention technology is illegal (something the DMCA does prohibit), and Github had refused to take it down (which means they don't get safe harbor), then Github is the first-party that is liable for distributing that illegal technology, probably many millions of times. When you start taking statutory fines and multiply them by millions, you end up with numbers that would put Github out of business overnight. Is that beneficial to anyone?

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#284

Post by Arkanosis »

Hoshea wrote: post #272
vinylkey wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, in that blog post, they state: "We asked them 24 days ago to remove functionalclam[.]com on the original commit." Their request is here: https://github.com/easylist/easylist/commit/1ba8d4afeec6d562... And was made by this account: https://github.com/dmcahelper So, they made a github account the same day they made the "request" with an account that in no way indicates where the request is coming from? The github p…

It may not be a bad idea to report this user via GitHub's "block or report" feature when viewing that account: https://github.com/dmcahelper That type of behavior can only be bad for open source software. Threats like "to minimize file and repository impacts" are going to push more folks toward private repositories if they don't understand that it's not an actual authority pressing them into making changes on a given…

Additionaly, this account is borderline with regards to GitHub's TOS¹: “While using GitHub, you agree that you will not under any circumstances: […] impersonate any person or entity, including any of our employees or representatives, including through false association with GitHub, or by fraudulently misrepresenting your identity or site's purpose”. They haven't explicitly impersonated GitHub, but I bet I'm not the only one to have wondered for a few seconds whether this was an official GitHub account or not and I'd hardly believe this wasn't intended.

¹ https://help.github.com/articles/github-terms-of-service/#3-...

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#285

Post by Nexxxeh »

Overtonwindow wrote: post #240
anilgulecha wrote: post #32

It was admiral that did this: https://blog.getadmiral.com/dmca-easylist-adblock-copyright-... They even clearly state they used the only tool available to them, DCMA. From all the current summaries on this, DMCA does not apply to a line entry in easylist. A domain can be trademarked. This should be added back in. And if github cannot standup to DMCA abuse, then well, easylist and all other developers should be giving…

This might create a new front in the war against ads. You'll have ad blockers, then they'll build in a component to block anti-adblock mechanisms, which will force the ad makers to employ more countermeasures... I don't see how the content providers will ever win this war. They have more to lose here.

Isn't that front already open?

>uBO-Extra

>A companion extension to uBlock Origin: to gain ability to foil early anti-user mechanisms working around content blockers or even a browser privacy settings.

I think /u/gorhill is the lord of this particular war, and his followers are armed to the teeth. I type this on Firefox on Android with uBlock Origin.

I check his github occasionally to see if he accepts donations, and I donate to a couple of the lists occasionally.

In the war analogy, we have the best arms dealers. They other side is fighting a losing war.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#286

Post by bogomipz »

From a recent WSJ article about anti-ad blocking companies:

“We really think the free internet is at risk because of ad-blocking, so these types of solutions are needed to turn the tide”, said Dan Rua, CEO of ad-blocking “revenue recovery” company Admiral, which recently raised $2.5 million to help build its platform."[1]

It's amazing how selective the CEO's concern for the "free internet" is. Threatening community github repos with DCMA takedowns is OK though?

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rise-of-the-anti-ad-blocker...

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#287

Post by alkonaut »

basseq wrote: post #276
alkonaut wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's fair game to say "Our newspaper pays for quality journalists to do quality journalism, please consider subscribing or not using an adblocker on our site". I prefer this to the WaPo model of paywalling or having a limited number of articles. I do object to the Bloomberg model though, where they say "We notice you're using an ad blocker, which may adversely affect the performance and content on Bloomberg.c…

I agree it's fair game. But I think that message needs to recognize why I blocked those ads in the first place. It's not because "I don't like ads" or "I don't want to support you". It because the ads you were showing sucked: they bogged down my computer and they were malicious. I would very likely unblock a site if they spoke to that. "We've taken numerous steps in the last 3 months to increase your privacy and elim…

Absolutely agree. And for really large sites such as major news sites, there really isn't even an excuse for using any of the "normal" ad networks. There should be (if there isn't already) an ad network with only acceptable non-tracking ads that just show dumb images to people without worrying who sees shoes and who sees cars. I accept a shoe ad as relevant next to a shoe article, not because a Facebook friend sent me a PM with a picture containing a shoe yesterday.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#288

Post by tobz »

BoiledCabbage wrote: post #142

So right now this is one of the top stories on HN. How ad-blockers are being threatened and from comments below, "how annoying website subscription requests are." Later this week, I expect we'll see another post about the derth of quality journalism and the "unfortunate" continued growth of buzzfeed-style and listicles taking over the net, slowly killing off quality content.

Sidenote: not that I think you are personally attacking them, but BuzzFeed does have some quality investigative journalism.

Listicles and clickbait help pay the bills, and I didn't believe it when I was informed the first time, but... it exists. Probably wouldn't be able to continue without the clickbait ad revenue, though, heh. :P

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#289

Post by freeone3000 »

op00to wrote: post #177

> That domain is part of the DMCA copyright access control platform Admiral provides publishers so they can engage visitors in a transparent way on the value exchange for their copyrighted content, instead of resorting to surprise ad reinsertion the way some of our competitors advocate but visitors and advertisers dislike. Does anyone actually understand what this garbage paragraph is actually saying? It stinks of co…

They show a pop-up attempting to convince people to disable adblockers rather than running ads that get around adblockers.

Re: Ad blocking is under attack

#290

Post by ntsoeu8scrnoeu »

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

I click on "Reader Mode" in Safari, and see the content without the pop-up, which I don't have to click or touch in any way.
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