Adblock - Is it legal?

Talk about add-ons and extension development.
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Gogf
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Adblock - Is it legal?

Post by Gogf »

I don't know, it just seems kind of illigal to be blocking people's advertisements. Hopefully it's not.
Avenger1324
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Post by Avenger1324 »

Well I know its criminal the amount of rubbish that keeps popping up !! ;op
balph2k
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Post by balph2k »

I don't see how it's illegal at all. And even if it was... illegal by what legal system? who would enforce it? ;)
chrisblore
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Post by chrisblore »

No it's not illegal. The only thing is, some websites may be hard hit when companies realise that they are not getting the value for money as their ads are not being displayed to as many people because they are all using ad blockers!
kstahl
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Post by kstahl »

Adblock is completely legal, just as turning off image loading in the browser is. Many well known programs like Norton Internet Security also include such functionality.

Some might argue that it is immoral to block ads, but let's not have that discussion here. If you want to support sites without having to see ads you can set Adblock to download the ads, but hide them. (Tools > Adblock > Preferences)
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Robert S.
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Post by Robert S. »

balph2k wrote:who would enforce it? ;)

The INTERNET LAWYERS! Beware! :D

It is legal just as popup blockers are legal and text only browsers that don't display annoying ad graphics are legal. Perhaps there is a country that has tried to legislate it but I haven't heard of any as of yet.
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djst
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Post by djst »

Blocking an ad on the web is no more illegal than turning off your TV during the commercials.
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Gogf
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Post by Gogf »

Okay, thanks.

It is kind of immoral, but oh well.

The big negative side effect is that I'm used to seeing these pages with ads, and now they look... different :lol:!
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djst
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Post by djst »

If you feel immoral (I sure don't, I don't read the ads anyway) and you view the new ad-free appearance as a "negative effect", then simply don't use adblock.
TrickyBuddha
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Post by TrickyBuddha »

Well... would you ever *buy* anything based on an ad you saw? If you wouldn't, then the money they spend sending you advertisements is wasted. In effect, by using AdBlocker, you're *saving* them money, because you're not wasting their bandwidth. Talk about responsible web surfing! I know I will sleep well tonight. :D
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Kraftwerk
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Post by Kraftwerk »

I think it's a sad reflection of society when a person wonders if not watching a commercial is illegal or wrong.
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Robert S.
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Post by Robert S. »

Yes, but then we have people like TrickyBuddha who has provided a wonderful way to look at this situation and has lived up to their name. I know I will sleep well tonight thanks to TrickyBuddha!
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lifespan
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Post by lifespan »

I guess the naming of directories will become more obscure in the future to compensate for adblock and we'll have another filtering arms race like we currently have with spam.
Pete
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guest123
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Post by guest123 »

I simply hope not 100% of the web population use adblock. Cause if everybody starting using adblock, those sponsoring companies won't sponsor anymore and users has to pay then for services which are free now, thanks to those sponsors. Its something like if everybody starts switching off the TV during commercial, then next thing you would know is paying the cable operator bog bucks for every channel.

BTW, how do google make money? isn't it by displaying ads along with search results, that too at the top of the page?
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lifespan
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Post by lifespan »

the tv remote didn't cause the demise of tv advertising. I wish they still had cords, where is that damn remote......
Pete
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