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Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

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Re: Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

#61

Post by robomartin »

I wish there was legislation to prevent TV manufacturers from turning TV's into ad-spewing digital signage in your home. It's completely out of control.

Yes, sure, you can, in some cases, plug in an external streaming device and, depending on the system, side step their incredibly abusive home screens full of ads and tracking. This might not be 100% possible on all devices. More importantly, you paid good money for a TV. You bought a TV, not a surveillance device and digital ad system to hang on your wall.

I am not one for heavy-handed government regulation, yet, this is so far out of control that it likely needs it.

The reason this is serious is because consumers have no control whatsoever. Also, most consumers have no idea what's going on. I have watch people innocently use home screens to search or click on things they don't know are ads. When you explain it to them, for the most part, they are incredulous. In a lot of cases they dismiss it with comebacks such as "you are just being paranoid", etc.

Companies like Vizio have introduced features where you get to upload your pictures to their servers to then share with others. Their TOS very clearly states they retain the right to effectively use those pictures as they see fit, including having employees look at them, and more. This is just crazy. People have no idea what is being done to them.

I highlight this because browsers on computers receive a lot of attention, while, TV's seem to be in this wild west mode where the manufacturers do anything they want with every update. Since you cannot install software to block anything, they are free to abuse and monitor your entire family as they please. This is wrong.

Re: Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

#63

Post by blackmesaind »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #53
Etheryte wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This stance is absurd. It's your device, you choose what content you want to consume on it. Do you imagine a world where you buy a monitor and once every hour it shows you fullscreen ads from the device manufacturer without your consent? Maybe you do, but for everyone else that's a dystopia.

Visiting sites consume resources. If you walk into a store and take a gift card you're still consuming resources meant to be paid for, even if they're mostly digital resources. Regardless of the car or shoes you used to do it. I don't welcome a world of paid products that also include ads. Yet ads do make some paid products cheaper, like say a Kindle or a TV. Folks blocking ads from a premium product probably have a…

A false equivalency. Websites want to entice you to visit, stores do not want to entice you to steal gift cards.

As for whether you can make blocking ads an ethical imperative, I'd agree that without ads, there likely wouldn't be an incentive to provide helpful, free services. If anything, it's theft of the value that other ad-consenting visitors are providing.

Re: Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

#64

Post by the_other »

c-fe wrote: post #34
ziyao_w wrote: post #30

Thibault (the creator of lichess) is a really impressive human being. I don’t idolize people but he is quite inspiring. There’s an old perpetual chess podcast episode where he said he has never seen a single ad that was useful :-) Which is somewhat extreme and probably hyperbole but still his philosophy is loud and clear.

On this subject, I did see an ad for a small music festival near my hometown, and i brought the ticket and had a good time. If i had not seen the add, I would not have known about the festival, so I actually did at least once see a useful ad

I used to hate ads, for the intrusion they made. Then I started to run my own ventures and realised advertising is essential: even finding friends and partners requires advertising of a sort.

But on the web, advertising doesn’t stop at attention theft. Most web ads are agents of surveillance networks, and also are software running on your hardware. Neither we should tolerate.

Re: Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

#65

Post by slumberlust »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #53
Etheryte wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This stance is absurd. It's your device, you choose what content you want to consume on it. Do you imagine a world where you buy a monitor and once every hour it shows you fullscreen ads from the device manufacturer without your consent? Maybe you do, but for everyone else that's a dystopia.

Visiting sites consume resources. If you walk into a store and take a gift card you're still consuming resources meant to be paid for, even if they're mostly digital resources. Regardless of the car or shoes you used to do it. I don't welcome a world of paid products that also include ads. Yet ads do make some paid products cheaper, like say a Kindle or a TV. Folks blocking ads from a premium product probably have a…

This is an interesting, yet bewildering take. Do you work for Unity by chance?

Most stores will gladly have you enter their store at a cost, the hardest and most expensive part of the process is getting you there.

Re: Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

#67

Post by trollytroll69 »

marcrosoft wrote: post #15
treme wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

props to founders & gov of France that has special funding for such institutions.

Except if you look at their financials they are paying a huge tax being a French company. Their resources would go further if they left.

go further and do what-hire one more dev?

Re: Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

#68

Post by digging »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #53
Etheryte wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This stance is absurd. It's your device, you choose what content you want to consume on it. Do you imagine a world where you buy a monitor and once every hour it shows you fullscreen ads from the device manufacturer without your consent? Maybe you do, but for everyone else that's a dystopia.

Visiting sites consume resources. If you walk into a store and take a gift card you're still consuming resources meant to be paid for, even if they're mostly digital resources. Regardless of the car or shoes you used to do it. I don't welcome a world of paid products that also include ads. Yet ads do make some paid products cheaper, like say a Kindle or a TV. Folks blocking ads from a premium product probably have a…

> Visiting sites consume resources.

Less if you block their ads and JS.

Re: Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

#69

Post by cwales95 »

I love their stance on adblockers and privacy. It's exactly how I feel and I refuse to have them in my home or on my devices. I also love how they go the extra mile to show people how to implement common adblocking techniques.

Re: Lichess: Block Ads and Trackers

#70

Post by thomasahle »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #55
dan353hehe wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it also unethical to not read the ads in a newspaper? Or to not watch the commercials on TV?

If it was automated and you still consumed the other resources (paid largely or entirely by ad impressions) then that case could be made.

Why does it matter whether it's automatic?
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