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A simpler regulation would be to disclose at the time of purchase how much ad content that a given device that one is purchasing will display. That way if you w
by osigurdson 1y ago
A simpler regulation would be to disclose at the time of purchase how much ad content that a given device that one is purchasing will display. That way if you want something cheap and are ok with an ad sponsored device, everything is fine. If you don't want ads, buy a competitor's product that doesn't have ads. If competition isn't broken this model should work fine.
- Terr_ 1y ago> A simpler regulation [is disclosing] how much ad content I disagree, it's much less simple in the long run. (A phenomenon I'm sure is painfully-familiar to a lot of software developers.) First, it's playing whack-a-mole with just one of many kinds of infringement on the user's ownership. It does nothing to protect against aggressive spying "telemetry", against forcing users to make an Acme Fridge Online Account to continue, or against standard/free features being "discontinued" and then introducing a suspiciously similar paid-subscription option. Second, even in that narrow "showing ads" aspect, there are too many dimensions to lock down by spec. For example, consider the difference between a system that shows X minutes of ads when idle which are instantly-dismissable, versus another system that shows fewer/shorter/smaller ads which are unskippable phases of normal operation. In contrast, freeing users to fight back--and to share what they've developed--encourages a democratized and counterbalancing force, which will naturally be strongly aligned to consumer interests regardless of yearly electoral changes.
- osigurdson 1y agoMaybe it can just be binary: zero ads or up to and including 100% ads.