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I got the feeling that these features should be part of a browser extension the same way as there are AdBlock extensions. I guess the reason it is not is "perso

by ktpsns 3y ago

I got the feeling that these features should be part of a browser extension the same way as there are AdBlock extensions. I guess the reason it is not is "personal preference" of the author, or is there some technical reason?

bilekas 3y ago
I don't know for sure, but I would imagine there are more severe actions taken against circumventing paid material (content behind a paywall) than there is for free content supplemented by advertisements.. Edit : The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits circumventing an effective technological means of control that restricts access to a copyrighted work. I guess that would apply here.
- mckirk 3y ago
  Given how liberally the DMCA is applied, you definitely don't want to be on the wrong side of that. I remember some guy that wrote a WoW bot and got sued using the DMCA, with the argument that his bot was circumventing the anti-cheat and the anti-cheat could be seen as a 'mechanism protecting copyrighted material', because it was safeguarding access to the game servers, the servers were generating parts of the game world (such as sounds) dynamically, and those were under copyright... Wild stuff.
  - judge2020 3y ago
    As far a I know section 1201 has never been prosecuted. Distribution of the copyrighted material is what's focused on.
    - mckirk 3y ago
      This seems a good summary of the case I was talking about: https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/28/lawful-neutral-cheating-copyright-law-and-the-wow-glider-lawsuit/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/28/lawful-neutral-cheating-c...
  - kkzz99 3y ago
    It happened to Honorbuddy, a very advanced bot for World Of Warcraft made by a German company. The argument in relation to DMCA was that the bot was circumventing warden, the games anti-cheat system. The legal battle was long and they ultimately had to strip many features of the bot, until the company went under.
- nottheengineer 3y ago
  Good old section 1201. The EFF has been fighting it for a while, but hasn't had much success unfortunately.
- nerdbert 3y ago
  Isn't anything that can be circumvented ineffective? Or, looking at it the other way, if you put a small sticker that says "do not do X" and even one person follows that, isn't that therefore an "effective" method?
- Aaargh20318 3y ago
  > The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits circumventing an effective technological means of control that restricts access to a copyrighted work. I guess that would apply here. It doesn't if you're not in the US.
  - zeusk 3y ago
    Kim Dotcom believed so too, didn't fare too well.
    - Aaargh20318 3y ago
      Megaupload did business in the US, they had a lot of servers in the US. IIRC that was the basis for his arrest: the crime took place on US territory.
      - zeusk 3y ago
        12ft.io and vercel have servers in US, so what's your argument here?
overtomanu 3y ago
there is below extension for this purpose which I know of, I think there can be many more if we search for them chrome and firefox extension for removing paywall: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome
- user764743 3y ago
  This extension is asking for a lot of permissions it shouldn't ask for If you want an alternative that only requests permissions for sites with paywalls, this one is better: https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clea...
sva_ 3y ago
> these features should be part of a browser extension You mean like Bypass Paywall Clean? https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean
- radlad 3y ago
  Is there a Firefox version?
  - sva_ 3y ago
    https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clea... It used to be in mozillas addon store, but they removed it, so have to install via dev mode
    - m-p-3 3y ago
      Or you can load this uBO filterlist, which should basically do the same thing as the extension https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-clean-filters/-/raw/main/bpc-paywall-filter.txt
      - bluish29 3y ago
        That's why I like reading HN comments. Thanks for that filter link
    - penguin_booze 3y ago
      No need for dev mode - signed XPIs are avaiable from releases: https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean/-/releases https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clea....
      - sva_ 3y ago
        Ah you're right, I confused it with Chrome

by ktpsns 3y ago

bilekas 3y ago

I don't know for sure, but I would imagine there are more severe actions taken against circumventing paid material (content behind a paywall) than there is for free content supplemented by advertisements.. Edit : The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits circumventing an effective technological means of control that restricts access to a copyrighted work. I guess that would apply here.

mckirk 3y ago
Given how liberally the DMCA is applied, you definitely don't want to be on the wrong side of that. I remember some guy that wrote a WoW bot and got sued using the DMCA, with the argument that his bot was circumventing the anti-cheat and the anti-cheat could be seen as a 'mechanism protecting copyrighted material', because it was safeguarding access to the game servers, the servers were generating parts of the game world (such as sounds) dynamically, and those were under copyright... Wild stuff.
- judge2020 3y ago
  As far a I know section 1201 has never been prosecuted. Distribution of the copyrighted material is what's focused on.
  - mckirk 3y ago
    This seems a good summary of the case I was talking about: https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/28/lawful-neutral-cheating-copyright-law-and-the-wow-glider-lawsuit/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/02/28/lawful-neutral-cheating-c...
- kkzz99 3y ago
  It happened to Honorbuddy, a very advanced bot for World Of Warcraft made by a German company. The argument in relation to DMCA was that the bot was circumventing warden, the games anti-cheat system. The legal battle was long and they ultimately had to strip many features of the bot, until the company went under.
nottheengineer 3y ago
Good old section 1201. The EFF has been fighting it for a while, but hasn't had much success unfortunately.
nerdbert 3y ago
Isn't anything that can be circumvented ineffective? Or, looking at it the other way, if you put a small sticker that says "do not do X" and even one person follows that, isn't that therefore an "effective" method?
Aaargh20318 3y ago
> The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits circumventing an effective technological means of control that restricts access to a copyrighted work. I guess that would apply here. It doesn't if you're not in the US.
- zeusk 3y ago
  Kim Dotcom believed so too, didn't fare too well.
  - Aaargh20318 3y ago
    Megaupload did business in the US, they had a lot of servers in the US. IIRC that was the basis for his arrest: the crime took place on US territory.
    - zeusk 3y ago
      12ft.io and vercel have servers in US, so what's your argument here?

overtomanu 3y ago

there is below extension for this purpose which I know of, I think there can be many more if we search for them chrome and firefox extension for removing paywall: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome

user764743 3y ago
This extension is asking for a lot of permissions it shouldn't ask for If you want an alternative that only requests permissions for sites with paywalls, this one is better: https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clea...

sva_ 3y ago

> these features should be part of a browser extension You mean like Bypass Paywall Clean? https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean

radlad 3y ago
Is there a Firefox version?
- sva_ 3y ago
  https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clea... It used to be in mozillas addon store, but they removed it, so have to install via dev mode
  - m-p-3 3y ago
    Or you can load this uBO filterlist, which should basically do the same thing as the extension https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-clean-filters/-/raw/main/bpc-paywall-filter.txt
    - bluish29 3y ago
      That's why I like reading HN comments. Thanks for that filter link
  - penguin_booze 3y ago
    No need for dev mode - signed XPIs are avaiable from releases: https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean/-/releases https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clea....
    - sva_ 3y ago
      Ah you're right, I confused it with Chrome