Ad blocking is theft, so block Firefox instead (updated)

[133724]

So you have penty of people who use Firefox because they can block ads, and it seems some site owners are retaliating by blocking Firefox. (I've not found one myself.) The Why Firefox is Blocked site says:

While blanket ad blocking in general is still theft, the real problem is Ad Block Plus's unwillingness to allow individual site owners the freedom to block people using their plug-in. Blocking FireFox is the only alternative. Demographics have shown that not only are FireFox users a somewhat small percentage of the internet, they actually are even smaller in terms of online spending, therefore blocking FireFox seems to have only minimal financial drawbacks, whereas ending resource theft has tremendous financial rewards for honest, hard-working website owners and developers..


...


Charles Arthur adds: actually, "some site owners" might be a slight overstatement here. There's only one site owner doing this - Danny Carlton, aka (to himself, for reasons I can't fathom) Jack Lewis, who is - judging by his site - a gun-owning home-schooling evolution-dissing Christian who reckons that to not look at the ads on his site(s) is theft. Whether he would then consider it theft if other site owners divert Firefox users to his site (thus using his bandwidth and, um, money) isn't covered.

You can read his logic - I think that's the generic word - here (Google cache): the short version is

Using ad blocking software to block all ads is stealing, no ifs, ands or buts. Every new script I come up with to keep people off my sites who use ad blocking software, the filter people come up with work arounds. They're my sites and if I don't want people using them that use ad blocking software then I darn well have the right to keep them off. Since the crooks who made the plug-ins, software and filters can't seem to ge that through their thick skulls, I'll simply block all FireFox users.


http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/archives/2007/08/19/ad_blocking_is_theft_so_block_firefox_instead_updated.html

So who's theft is it????

Is he stealing my bandwidth forcing me to watch his silly ads???
Or am I stealing from by reading what he posts on the web with out his silly ads??????

[aquart]

1. One idiot does not a trend make.

[rjones2818]

2. Who's Danny Carlton, aka Jack Lewis?

And why would I be going to his site?

:evilgrin:

[133724]

17. this is who he is.....

Danny Carlton, aka (to himself, for reasons I can't fathom) Jack Lewis, who is - judging by his site - a gun-owning home-schooling evolution-dissing Christian who reckons that to not look at the ads on his site(s) is theft.

[varkam]

3. Sounds like someone missed the logic train.

So if someone Tivos a program and skips the commercials, are they stealing? What a load of crock.

[Lithos]

4. All the sillier

In that I can alter my http header to make it look like it's IE.

Course there are also several 3rd party IE blockers, so I can't wait for him to start blocking those as well.

Stupid git.

L-

[TahitiNut]

28. GMTA

It's exceedingly strange that web sites do nearly nothing to offer content optimized for the browser based on the connection protocol, but seek to engage in a kind of 'restraint of trade' that (clearly!) serves Microsoft's market share. (Can anyone imagine a web site blocking IE? Riiight.)

I suggest Spyglass Mosaic. :evilgrin:

08/21/07 22:39:23 Browsing http://www.democraticunderground.com
Fetching http://www.democraticunderground.com/ ...
HEAD / HTTP/1.1
Host: www.democraticunderground.com
Connection: close
User-Agent: Spyglass_Mosaic/2.11 Win32 ABSI/4

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:39:24 GMT
Server: Apache
X-Powered-By: PHP/5.0.5
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/html

[hobbit709]

5. No great loss

I probably wouldn't want to look at his site anyway.
On edit: After looking at his site, I DEFINITELY don't want to go there.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. It's not theft, it's an honest reflection of the ineffectiveness of web ads.

When I'm forced to use IE, the ads don't influence my purchasing decisions in a positive way. If he doesn't want any Firefox users on his site, that's a fair trade. His traffic decline, not mine.

[Deja Q]

7. Ads are one thing. Spyware planted by ads is quite another.

When ads become innocent ads for a trinket hawked by a mostly naked lady again, I'll disable the anti-spyware systems. Which is sad, some of that spyware garbage still gets through in the end anyway.

And you're right. We pay for internet access, we pay for that bandwidth. Hard earned money. We too have a say.

I should be advocating "Fuck them, let's go back to printed paper where it's safer".

[Forkboy]

8. Fair enough...I just wont go to their (his) site in the first place.

Hell,DU is one of the only pages where I don't block ads.

[EFerrari]

9. Cool. I don't need to go there.

:)

[MazeRat7]

10. Do you take into hand every pamphlet or leaflet street vendors try to hand you ?

I don't. If someones wants to run a self-supporting site... let them find the balance between free vs pay content to support their operation.
Dont whine to me that I blocked your adds... if I like what your doing, I'll support you. Otherwise... I wont be back so it wont matter.. now will it. :evilgrin:

MZr7

[NuttyFluffers]

12. not taking Chick Tracts is theft, and theft is a sin, and you'll go to hell, go to hell and die!

:crazy:

[sendero]

11. That...

.. is the stupidest thing I've heard today.

Any site that wants to block me because I use Firefox is a site I don't care to visit anyway.

I'm sorry that some two-bit addle-pated moron is steaming because his hot idea for a web site is not paying off.

[warren pease]

13. It's a bullshit argument...

He intends to steal my bandwidth -- and far worse, my time and what's left of the universe that isn't already plastered with advertising -- and he's got the gall to call it resource theft?

Because I use Firefox, I suppose I can't go to his site to find out first hand what manner of garbage he's peddling. But I'm willing to bet he's a free-market republican who believes that every penny lost is a personal tragedy. What an obvious asshole.


wp

[tridim]

14. All of you who posted that this guy is wrong..

Do you rely on ad revenue for your paycheck? I thought not.

I admit that I hate ads (and know how to block them in any browser), but for the first time in my life I work for a company that loses revenue for every ad that's blocked. It's a real problem.

I think this guy's solution is dumb because not all FF users block ads, but I also understand where he's coming from. Subscription models are death to websites. It would be great if there were some other method besides loads of "FREE IPOD!" ads, but as of today that's about the only solution if you want to get paid for your work.

[Solon]

16. Doesn't make him any less dumb...

Theft is stealing a physical object from someone else, depriving them of the use of it, and allowing you to have exclusive use of said object. I don't see how ad blocking is even comparable to this.

[sendero]

23. It's a matter of you..

.... getting paid for work WE DON'T WANT YOU TO DO. Get it?

I don't WANT to see your ads, I don't WANT to see your dumb commercials, I don't WANT to get your annoying calls. And your retort which I can already hear - I don't CARE if that website or that channel or that stupid company that exists only by creating demand goes away. I DON'T CARE.

You don't have a right to subject me to constant advertisement whether you like that or not. I have a TIVO, I have caller ID, and I freaking don't need any of you to tell me what I need, especially when most advertising is full of lies anyway - "fewest dropped calls", right.

[tridim]

25. Do you think the mods here care that you block their ads?

I bet they do.

We serve 1/2 million unique visitors a day, and they don't seem to mind the barrage of ads. They keep coming back for more. No, it's not a porn site. :)

[sendero]

27. I don't mind..

... ads on the page, as the Adwords ads here. I can look at them or not.

But pop-ups are a whole 'nother thing. they are annoying and I'm surprised ANYONE would buy anything as a result of viewing them. For me, a pop-up is an anti-ad, a guarantee I will never do business with the sponsor.

[BlooInBloo]

15. LOL!!!!! Like I just HAVE to see their site??? NOT. Bye.

[depakid]

18. Ad blocking is theft? Now I've heard everything.

I think this person ought to just take his content off the web entirely. Might help with his blood pressure.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Fine. Their loss.

That's pretty dumb.

[Ioo]

20. HA - I went to his blog via IE - Google Ads are for Firefox!!!

[warren pease]

21. Well, he should have said he serves the lord...

that would have made everything OK here in Jeebusland. OK pal, you're off the hook. Just say a little prayer for my eternal soul when you're done counting the pennies.


wp

[blogslut]

22. Whoever made the claim about demographics is wrong

According to W3schools. com, as of July, 34.5% of Internet surfers are using Firefox as a browser. Now, that may not be the majority but I certainly wouldn't just throw away 34.5% of my traffic. As for the ratio of Firefox users to buyers, what? Are they talking about direct online sales? Has this person never heard of branding? Is he too busy counting clicks instead of his bottom line? Does Taco Bell really think that each time their commercial plays, thousands of people immediately leave their homes to go buy a taco? Advertising is about name recognition, even on the interwebs.

And from viewing Mr. "Carlton's" site (on Konqueror - Mozilla based browser) I see that Mr "Carlton" also promotes his own BlogAds clone.

No ulterior motives there </sarcasm>

[walldude]

24. Ad blocking is theft? What about blackmail ads?

I just had to re-format my laptop because Mcafee missed a bit of spyware called Spy Sheriff. This program hijacks your desktop with it's own wallpaper stating that you have spyware on your system and need to buy their program to fix it. It also disables your task manager, your system restore, all right clicking of any folders, and a number of other features that the casual user would use to get rid of it. Now I'm a pretty advanced user and after much re-editing of the registry, deleting files in safe mode, repairing the time/date feature and picking up a few tips from other sources I managed to get rid of it but I ended up re-formatting my laptop anyway just to make sure I didn't miss anything. This took me a couple days to sort through, and if I ever find the little hacker shit who developed this I will cut off his balls.

[mondo joe]

26. If you have to use threats to enforce your marketing, it can't be very good.

That is all.