4 ms·

From TFA: > First and most importantly, ads were still being served via the stream; it was just happening via whatever third-party client the user was using. T

by pwg 4y ago

From TFA: > First and most importantly, ads were still being served via the stream; it was just happening via whatever third-party client the user was using. The main difference here is the app being used, and honestly, is that really such a bad thing? From their perspective, they likely thought so. The amount of user tracking and spying data they can hoover up via an app., which is not available to them from someone using VLC (or another player) is huge, and it is very likely that a huge part of their monetization of Pluto TV streams comes from the tracking data they can hoover up via their app. No app., no tracking data, no tracking data means lost profits from selling the same. So of course they try to abuse the DMCA as best they can to claw back those lost profits.

xattt 4y ago
Does this mean that adblockers will be seen as piracy tools in the near future?
- pjc50 4y ago
  People have been making the "adblocking is piracy because it interferes with monetization" argument for years. As with all these questions, the detail of "be seen as X by whom exactly" matters.
  - tarotuser 4y ago
    I make a point not to argue with stupid people. And instead, everybody I help with their computer, I show them adblockers, paywall bypassers, anti-trackers, and other user-enabling tech. Computers act against the intentions of most people because they're not aware of their choices. So I help show them what is available and to use them. The anti-adblocker crowd is just plain stupid. And from being a system engineer for many years, you can't fix stupid.
- hermannj314 4y ago
  Of course! The ad blocker is creating an uninspired derivative of a copyrightable work. Piracy!
- izzydata 4y ago
  I don't see how that can even be possible to argue for. If I close my eyes and put earplugs in when an ad is playing is that piracy? It's no different than blanking out an ad that my own personal computer is receiving when I don't feel like viewing or listening to something on it. By the same logic if I don't feel like having my own computer send someone else's computer some metadata about my viewing experience then there is nothing they can do about it. My computer, my rules.
  - folio 4y ago
    > If I close my eyes and put earplugs in when an ad is playing is that piracy? See: https://www.iflscience.com/eyetracking-moviepass-app-will-pause-ads-if-you-look-away-62635 https://www.iflscience.com/eyetracking-moviepass-app-will-pa...
    - GoblinSlayer 4y ago
      Then wear this: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51u1WvdSZHL._AC_UY1000_.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51u1WvdSZHL._AC_UY1000_....
  - tpmoney 4y ago
    > If I close my eyes and put earplugs in when an ad is playing is that piracy? There’s certainly a not unreasonable argument that it is if you agreed to watch ads in exchange for getting something. If you do a project for me and I agree to pay you after I receive your invoice and then stop accepting mail, refuse all emails, ignore all phone calls, run away from you when I see you in person and otherwise do everything possible to prevent myself from receiving your invoice, wouldn’t you consider that theft of services? That isn’t to say I think all ad blocking is theft of services, nor to say that something like broadcasting with ads constitutes an agreement or even that abuse of ads in such an agreement wouldn’t justify blocking ads. Just that the argument is not unreasonable
    - mikestew 4y ago
      There’s certainly a not unreasonable argument that it is if you agreed to watch ads in exchange for getting something. It is unfortunate for some that this does not apply to online content. Because though vendors of online content might like to pretend that such an agreement is in place, that agreement is at best implicit. No one asked me, and I agreed to no such thing, no matter the fantasies of of the ad suppliers. So, no; the argument is entirely unreasonable, and falls down at its core premise.
Karellen 4y ago
> So of course they try to abuse the DMCA as best they can to claw back those lost profits. Classic "felony contempt of business model" play https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/felony-contempt-business-model-lexmarks-anti-competitive-legacy https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/felony-contempt-busine...

by pwg 4y ago

xattt 4y ago

Does this mean that adblockers will be seen as piracy tools in the near future?

pjc50 4y ago
People have been making the "adblocking is piracy because it interferes with monetization" argument for years. As with all these questions, the detail of "be seen as X by whom exactly" matters.
- tarotuser 4y ago
  I make a point not to argue with stupid people. And instead, everybody I help with their computer, I show them adblockers, paywall bypassers, anti-trackers, and other user-enabling tech. Computers act against the intentions of most people because they're not aware of their choices. So I help show them what is available and to use them. The anti-adblocker crowd is just plain stupid. And from being a system engineer for many years, you can't fix stupid.
hermannj314 4y ago
Of course! The ad blocker is creating an uninspired derivative of a copyrightable work. Piracy!
izzydata 4y ago
I don't see how that can even be possible to argue for. If I close my eyes and put earplugs in when an ad is playing is that piracy? It's no different than blanking out an ad that my own personal computer is receiving when I don't feel like viewing or listening to something on it. By the same logic if I don't feel like having my own computer send someone else's computer some metadata about my viewing experience then there is nothing they can do about it. My computer, my rules.
- folio 4y ago
  > If I close my eyes and put earplugs in when an ad is playing is that piracy? See: https://www.iflscience.com/eyetracking-moviepass-app-will-pause-ads-if-you-look-away-62635 https://www.iflscience.com/eyetracking-moviepass-app-will-pa...
  - GoblinSlayer 4y ago
    Then wear this: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51u1WvdSZHL._AC_UY1000_.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51u1WvdSZHL._AC_UY1000_....
- tpmoney 4y ago
  > If I close my eyes and put earplugs in when an ad is playing is that piracy? There’s certainly a not unreasonable argument that it is if you agreed to watch ads in exchange for getting something. If you do a project for me and I agree to pay you after I receive your invoice and then stop accepting mail, refuse all emails, ignore all phone calls, run away from you when I see you in person and otherwise do everything possible to prevent myself from receiving your invoice, wouldn’t you consider that theft of services? That isn’t to say I think all ad blocking is theft of services, nor to say that something like broadcasting with ads constitutes an agreement or even that abuse of ads in such an agreement wouldn’t justify blocking ads. Just that the argument is not unreasonable
  - mikestew 4y ago
    There’s certainly a not unreasonable argument that it is if you agreed to watch ads in exchange for getting something. It is unfortunate for some that this does not apply to online content. Because though vendors of online content might like to pretend that such an agreement is in place, that agreement is at best implicit. No one asked me, and I agreed to no such thing, no matter the fantasies of of the ad suppliers. So, no; the argument is entirely unreasonable, and falls down at its core premise.

Karellen 4y ago

> So of course they try to abuse the DMCA as best they can to claw back those lost profits. Classic "felony contempt of business model" play https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/felony-contempt-business-model-lexmarks-anti-competitive-legacy https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/felony-contempt-busine...