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Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

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Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#941

Post by fastball »

gpderetta wrote: post #802
munk-a wrote: post #801

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, you're using a service, the cost of that service may be incidental but the classic superman/office space bank hack of diverting all the partial cents on interest to a separate account isn't legal just because each action is so small... It is different because it'd probably be silly to enforce that everyone using their wifi has paid for a drink, but there isn't a distinction there ethically or legally... U…

I just think it would be very hard to legally argue that there is any implied contract that you must buy a coffee to use the WiFi. But then again, IANAL.

There is a literal contract for Sbux wifi. You need to agree to a ToS when you join the wifi network. That ToS includes "you must be a starbucks customer".

Obviously what a "customer" entails is up for legal debate, but it generally does not include people who purchase nothing from Sbux.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#942

Post by anoncake »

delecti wrote: post #504
dvtrn wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then pay for the plan! That's the point! Pardon my language, but it's a fucked up point to say pay a service money if you don't want their software to conduct clandestine operations on a device that probably contains all sorts of sensitive and private data that NOBODY has claim to but you, and the people you've expressly desired to share it with. That's the point it would seem to me reading these comments; I realize…

You aren't paying to get rid of ads, you're paying to get music. Ads pay for the music, or money can. It's only paying to get rid of ads if you view the music as an inevitable outcome, and this change is Spotify asserting that's not the case.

Since the free plan includes music, they obviously aren't paying to get it.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#943

Post by delecti »

anoncake wrote: post #942
delecti wrote: post #504

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You aren't paying to get rid of ads, you're paying to get music. Ads pay for the music, or money can. It's only paying to get rid of ads if you view the music as an inevitable outcome, and this change is Spotify asserting that's not the case.

Since the free plan includes music, they obviously aren't paying to get it.

Dealing with ads is payment.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#944

Post by anoncake »

delecti wrote: post #943
anoncake wrote: post #942

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the free plan includes music, they obviously aren't paying to get it.

Dealing with ads is payment.

No, payment is giving money to something. Spotify itself says the ad-infested plan is free.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#945

Post by randie63 »

coenhyde wrote: post #809

I recently cancelled my Spotify subscription because of their low quality audio. But i was reverting to it for music i couldn't find on Tidal. I guess I'm going to have to nuke it entirely now. I'm assuming they are going to consider my use of outbound traffic restrictions on the Spotify app "ad blocking". Spotify makes all kind of ridiculous outbound requests for ad services, and many of those requests are over plai…

YouTube ? Audio Quality ?

Anyway, I also dislike that my premium subscription is only 320kbit vorbis. I can hear a difference between that and a lossless flac on my 2016 OnePlus 3 and 15$ KZ ZSN Headphones. Obviously even bigger difference on my desktop DAC and over ear monitors. I guess I have to build an offline lib and sync it with syncthing and use Spotify like soundlcoud only to discover new stuff

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#946

Post by loco5niner »

sumeno wrote: post #702
loco5niner wrote: post #676

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Pandora and Google Play Music ... put ads in the audio stream Why would you want to encourage Spotify to adopt this horrible practice? I don't WANT ads injected into the audio.

Then you can pay for the service

You misunderstand.

I'm fine with paying for the service and DO (Spotify Premium).

I also use other services on occasion and HATE when the audio is interrupted with ads.

Show visual ads all day long, that's fine. Audio ads just suck. Especially when they raise the volume threshold for commercials.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#947

Post by loco5niner »

sumeno wrote: post #702
loco5niner wrote: post #676

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Pandora and Google Play Music ... put ads in the audio stream Why would you want to encourage Spotify to adopt this horrible practice? I don't WANT ads injected into the audio.

Then you can pay for the service

Oh, like cable, Amazon Prime video, etc... where you pay for the service and STILL get ads?

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#948

Post by whyfy »

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #452

No one is allowed to guarantee that an ad shows up on a screen I own. They can TRY to show an ad on my screen, and I might let them. But the conditions of use of any type of free service they emit out into nature emphatically does not include being allowed to control what appears on my screen. Nope. Never. I am perfectly allowed to consume their free service AND ALSO control what I allow to appear on the screen that…

And Spotify can control their service how they please, next.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#949

Post by notSupplied »

kgwxd wrote: post #327
cletus wrote: post #255

Good. Spotify has a pretty cheap paid option that removes all of that. To those who justify wanting the paid service for nothing by saying Spotify won't "take responsibility" or "assume liability" for their ads or those ads "might deliver malware" or are "intrusive" as a weak rationalization, you present a false dichotomy. There are at least three options: 1. Pay for the service 2. Suffer through the ads 3. Don't use…

Contrary to popular belief, ads can be delivered without arbitrary code execution. The Spotify app already has the ability to deliver audio and video, that's all they need. The mistake here is letting third-parties onto users devices. It's a disgusting industry-wide practice that needs to stop. Using the existing audio/video delivery system would render "ad blockers" useless. "thrid-party blockers" would still work a…

Do you really believe this is the main motivation behind people who are blocking Spotify ads? That they are sophisticated tech users who wish to express their distaste for intrusive script-based ads? Or is it simply because they want to use Spotify ad free without paying (in other words, engage in piracy to save some money)?

I find this rationale, while likely true for many readers on Hacker News, unlikely to generalize to overall population fo Spotify ad blockers.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#950

Post by dithering »

AJ007 wrote: post #423
dithering wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years ago, a Windows virus slipped on to three family machines I'm the go-to-guy for, due to Spotify using IE to display ads, and not vetting its ads properly. My answer was two-fold - never use Spotify, and always use an ad-blocker.

Ad blockers are mandatory on my parents computers. They can’t distinguish between what is or isn’t an ad (not speaking specifically of Spotify display ads.) I feel like I hold an opinion no one else reading hacker news has, I believe website owners should be able to deliver ads and website visitors should be able to block them.

Thing is, I had that all set up! I'd deleted all the IE icons! Spotify did an end-run around all my precautions, because there was basically no way to remove IE from the OS, and any app that wanted to use it could.
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