"Ad blockers are not piracy" overturned by top court in Germany

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Current Events » "Ad blockers are not piracy" overturned by top court in Germany
HighSeraph
08/20/2025
12:02 PM
#1
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/germanys-possible-ad-blocker-ban-could-threaten-user-freedom-and-privacy-says-mozilla

Nonsense, my condolences to our German posters
She's like a cat in the dark.
She/Her
R_Jackal
08/20/2025
12:05 PM
#2
The rest of the world will follow now that one has deemed it so.

The moment ad blockers die this site is pretty well dead to me. Hell, most of the Internet is since I already downloaded Wikipedia in it's entirety.
gikos
08/20/2025
12:08 PM
#3
this is dumb and i hate how these court judges ruling for these shitty corpo sides
"You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty." - Sacha Guitry (1885-1957)
Evening_Dragon
08/20/2025
12:10 PM
#4
Doesn't matter if it is or isn't, tbh. Not blocking ads is a perversion.
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?
It's Guide
Cartoon_Quoter
08/20/2025
12:10 PM
#5
Another attempt to kill the Internet entirely.
I apologize for nothing!
#6
Post #6 was unavailable or deleted.
Evening_Dragon
08/20/2025
12:13 PM
#7
JACKBUTTMOMMY posted...
I use mobile and dont block ads and have no problems. That said I definitely use blockers on my PC and fully support them.

Perversion
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?
It's Guide
gikos
08/20/2025
12:14 PM
#8
JACKBUTTMOMMY posted...
I use mobile and dont block ads

Evening_Dragon posted...
Perversion

"You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty." - Sacha Guitry (1885-1957)
Aysander
08/20/2025
12:17 PM
#9
Gonna suddenly see a lot of tilted parents when all those Victoria's Secret ads start showing up in the sidebar.
Ernie.
Bass
08/20/2025
12:22 PM
#10
They can take my ad blockers from my cold, dead hands.
Many Bothans died to bring you this post.
#11
Post #11 was unavailable or deleted.
FL81
08/20/2025
12:23 PM
#12
if ad blocking is piracy then you can call me Blackbeard
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
Evening_Dragon
08/20/2025
12:24 PM
#13
JACKBUTTMOMMY posted...
Theres not even an ad on this page right now maybe I am blocking them and not realizing it?

Nah gamefaqs is decent on mobile

Maybe the sites you use just aren't terrible about it?
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?
It's Guide
tremain07
08/20/2025
12:25 PM
#14
FL81 posted...
if ad blocking is piracy then you can call me Blackbeard
Zehahaha
A worthless existence
mustachedmystic
08/20/2025
12:29 PM
#15
Im not saying that there arent bad ads, malware etc. but without ads, there wouldnt be the net we have today. Im sure some of yall will try to argue that sites like YouTube would exist, because companies would host millions of terabytes of video and audio for free, out of the kindness of their hearts.
John Wick is a man of focus. . . commitment. . . and sheer ducking will. He once killed three men in a bar . . . with a pencil .
Southernfatman
08/20/2025
12:31 PM
#16
Looks like the check(s) to the judge cleared.
Fix your hearts or die.
When I sin I sin real good.
Evening_Dragon
08/20/2025
12:32 PM
#17
mustachedmystic posted...
Im not saying that there arent bad ads, malware etc. but without ads, there wouldnt be the net we have today. Im sure some of yall will try to argue that sites like YouTube would exist, because companies would host millions of terabytes of video and audio for free, out of the kindness of their hearts.
Walmart.
Oh sure, but chumps sustaining things is just nature at work.
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?
It's Guide
mustachedmystic
08/20/2025
12:34 PM
#18
Evening_Dragon posted...
Walmart.
Oh sure, but chumps sustaining things is just nature at work.
Target
Ok, what does that have to do with internet ads?
John Wick is a man of focus. . . commitment. . . and sheer ducking will. He once killed three men in a bar . . . with a pencil .
Evening_Dragon
08/20/2025
12:38 PM
#19
mustachedmystic posted...
Target
Ok, what does that have to do with internet ads?

Ads work almost solely because of chumps; more charitably, the idea of a mass psychic manipulation field in a service we pay for is horrifying and I feel bad for people unaware of adblockers.

But not being a chumps means blocking ads, because internet ad revenue will be sustained by the ignorant and unwashed masses.
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?
It's Guide
#20
Post #20 was unavailable or deleted.
GiftedACIII
08/20/2025
12:43 PM
#21
Surprising L from Germany. Oh god I can see this being the precursor for attempting to make it so that only sites that have been government approved can be allowed in order to "protect" from malicious ads.
</topic>
jefffan
08/20/2025
12:43 PM
#22
We're going to end up like Cyberpunk where ads are everywhere aren't we?
Ernest Morgan: November 15, 1956-September 28, 2010: Best dad in the world.
#23
Post #23 was unavailable or deleted.
R_Jackal
08/20/2025
12:46 PM
#24
jefffan posted...
We're going to end up like Cyberpunk where ads are everywhere aren't we?
More like Futuramas vision, which is worse.
AceAttorneyist
08/20/2025
12:47 PM
#25
R_Jackal posted...
The rest of the world will follow now that one has deemed it so.

The moment ad blockers die this site is pretty well dead to me. Hell, most of the Internet is since I already downloaded Wikipedia in it's entirety.
How much memory did that take?
(... D-Do I really inspire this sort of frothing desire from the female masses?)
Cartoon_Quoter
08/20/2025
12:52 PM
#26
jefffan posted...
We're going to end up like Cyberpunk where ads are everywhere aren't we?

Only on TV and radio. And in magazines. And movies. And at ballgames. And on busses, and milk cartons, and t-shirts, and bananas, and written on the sky.
I apologize for nothing!
K-driver
08/20/2025
12:56 PM
#27
https://youtu.be/Fj8-r30sSn0
LURKING HARD!
or hardly lurking, see?
R_Jackal
08/20/2025
12:57 PM
#28
AceAttorneyist posted...
How much memory did that take?
100ish GB I think?

If you want all the revisions and whatnot it's probably well over a terabyte though iirc. Fairly certain I opted for the version with no images as well.
saspa
08/20/2025
12:58 PM
#29
Europe being the bad guys too? I understand America being the bad guys fine, but weren't Europe all about protecting consumers, forcing websites to warn about cookies and offer to "reject" them (even if it was fake/placebo) and stuff like that?

This is... highly irregular, highly unorthodox
http://i.imgur.com/0UFI0T9.jpg
voldothegr8
08/20/2025
01:02 PM
#30
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/57f8d9f5.jpg
THE Ohio State: 14-2 National CHAMPIONS | Las Vegas Raiders: 4-13
Choco
08/20/2025
01:03 PM
#31
this is the legal equivalent of ce shitposters getting mad when someone uses the block feature
https://i.imgur.com/286sD4e.png
http://error1355.com/ce/Choco.html
R_Jackal
08/20/2025
01:03 PM
#32
saspa posted...
Europe being the bad guys too? I understand America being the bad guys fine, but weren't Europe all about protecting consumers, forcing websites to warn about cookies and offer to "reject" them (even if it was fake/placebo) and stuff like that?

This is... highly irregular, highly unorthodox
Profits always win in the the.
darkmaian23
08/21/2025
06:42 PM
#33
I wonder if this is a case of corruption, or just the judges not understanding why people use ad-blockers. At one point, the FBI was recommending people use ad-blocking to cut down on the spread of malware. Many ads are not made in good faith, and it's hard to take seriously the idea that it is stealing to refuse to look at something that advertisers want you to look at. Is it piracy to get up and do something else while commercials play on TV?

The only area where this might make sense is by-passing paywalls. If you are supposed to pay for content, that's fair.
Cuteness is justice! It's the law.
SauI_Goodman
08/21/2025
06:46 PM
#34
They cant take away my ad blockers. It's called changing the channel or turning the radio off.
Italian, French, German.
Umbreon
08/21/2025
06:52 PM
#35
If Ad blockers can now be considered ""piracy"".

https://youtu.be/i8ju_10NkGY
Black Lives Matter. ~ DYL ~ (On mobile)
HANGtheDJ_86
08/21/2025
06:53 PM
#36
R_Jackal posted...
The rest of the world will follow now that one has deemed it so.

The moment ad blockers die this site is pretty well dead to me. Hell, most of the Internet is since I already downloaded Wikipedia in it's entirety.
Damn right owning a copy of wikipedia is badass

You just earned yourself a tag
I feel well put
OniLink5000
08/21/2025
06:55 PM
#37
germany backsliding into its old ways i see
No sig
YugiNoob
08/21/2025
06:56 PM
#38
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d7ad4e9c.jpg
( ^_^)/\(^_^ ) Maya High-Five!
HighSeraph
08/21/2025
06:58 PM
#39
OniLink5000 posted...
germany backsliding into its old ways i see
Germany has had pretty draconian copyright laws for awhile
She's like a cat in the dark.
She/Her
Solar_Crimson
08/21/2025
07:32 PM
#40
Asherlee10 posted...
I don't see how they even remotely think this is a good idea when ads can still inject malware onto device, unless that's changed recently?
One or both of the following:
  1. They're ignorant about that.
  2. Corps paid them off.


"Be good to yourself, because everyone else in the world is probably out to get you." - Dr. Harleen Quinzel
TraurigAberWahr
08/23/2025
12:51 AM
#41

#42
Post #42 was unavailable or deleted.
#43
Post #43 was unavailable or deleted.
#44
Post #44 was unavailable or deleted.
#45
Post #45 was unavailable or deleted.
Rika_Furude
08/24/2025
04:08 PM
#46
Make it illegal for a website to show an ad to a viewer without it getting German government approval first
Newave
08/24/2025
04:33 PM
#47
as usual germany loves trying to lead the world in the wrong fucking direction
Kill the legs first, that's an ironclad battle tactic!
AceMos
08/24/2025
04:35 PM
#48
if companies dont want people using ad blockers

stop making ads so intrusive on websites

oh and stop selling our data
3 things 1. i am female 2. i havea msucle probelm its hard for me to typ well 3.*does her janpuu dance*
StopBeinMad
08/26/2025
11:54 AM
#49
Newave posted...
as usual germany loves trying to lead the world in the wrong fucking direction


That hasn't been the usual since the fall of the wall.
ReturnOfDevsman
08/26/2025
11:57 AM
#50
Rika_Furude posted...
Make it illegal for a website to show an ad to a viewer without it getting German government approval first
I like this solution.
Arguing on CE be all like:
https://youtu.be/JpRKrs67lOs?si=kPGA2RCKVHTdbVrJ
Current Events » "Ad blockers are not piracy" overturned by top court in Germany