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During an outbreak of common sense in a Hamburg, Germany, court it was ruled that.. no, advertisers don't get their own way every time.
Zeit Online GmbH and Handelsblatt GmbH as representatives of the advertising world filed suit against Eyeo GmbH (the owners of AdBlock Plus) claiming that the latter should not be allowed to distribute software (a browser plugin that blocks ads) that disrupts their income stream.
The court did not look favourably on the advertisers' case.
From an article in The Register :
Ben Williams, a director of Eyeo, wrote in a blog: "The Hamburg court decision is an important one, because it sets a precedent that may help us avoid additional lawsuits and expenses defending what we feel is an obvious consumer right: giving people the ability to control their own screens by letting them block annoying ads and protect their privacy."
This has ramifications for another simmering case in neighboring France.
(Score: 2) by Non Sequor on Thursday April 23 2015, @02:23AM
Say one nontrivial thing that's true.
It's bullshit half truths all the way down. Bullshit half truths are the currency of the human race. They're the substitute for the deeper truths we try to connect with but fail to attain.
For me personally, advertising works like simulated annealing: sure most of the time the changes it promotes in my behavior are of dubious marginal improvement but sometimes I find something I like and stick with it. Most of the time, doing my own research doesn't yield a high enough value over the above pattern so I live with advertising.
If you reject that pattern, maybe it's because doing your own research on the things you use gives you a feeling that you have control over your life.
Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday April 23 2015, @01:20PM
You're a moron who overestimates their resistance to advertising.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 23 2015, @03:19PM
Maybe you underestimate your resistance to pseudoscientific brainwashing waves. I see lots of people refer to how much money companies spend on advertising research, but they've never proven that the specific people they're replying to are actually susceptible to advertising. Yes, some people are different. Amazing. I heard the FBI also spent boatloads of money on psychic detectives at one point; they must have been effective.
(Score: 2) by Non Sequor on Thursday April 23 2015, @11:14PM
Well, given that I think all humans are stupid, I don't doubt the first part, but I don't overestimate my resistance to advertising, I just don't care about its negative effects on me. I embrace and enjoy the arbitrary and capricious nature of the universe.
Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.