Re: Pop-up blockers - what to do about it?
Christopher Ulrich wrote:
>Yes, it is up to the user to determine whether they want to
>use [an ad blocker] or not, but to invent and market [software]
>whose only purpose is
>to violate copyright laws is a whole other manner. Whether it
>is free to view or not, the web page - as it is with ads and
>all - is copyrighted by its owner. To tamper with that and
>charge people to deliver the content to them in an altered way
>violates the rights of the copyright holder in the page.
Though you can argue all you want, the law is the law.
Blocker software authors are doing nothing illegal,
unethical or immoral. They offer people a product or
service that satisfies a market desire.
Your copyright only protects you against redistribution
without control or compensation. Personal use is not
protected.
If you want to force people to pay to see your content,
using pops may be a way to do it. I have noticed an
ugly trend in the last few weeks that many top drawer
web sites are delivering popover ads where they
used to just deliver popunder ads.
These successful sites may be experimenting to see if
they can sell "ad free" versions and come out ahead
over selling ad space. My suspicion is that those sites
with very strong content and brand recognition can
probably succeed at upselling profitably.
Those of us unwilling to suffer through the ads will
either have to pony up the bucks or download ad
blockers.
At least that's my $ 0.02 for now.
Regards to all,
John Gaskill
jg_at_Info-Central-USA.com
http://Info-Central-USA.com
Received on Thu May 16 2002 - 00:55:06 CDT
