Re: Software to Block Ads -- Is this an illegal device?

[Dean Anderson <dean@av8.com>]

At 12:02 PM -0500 2/17/98, Kragen wrote:
>On Mon, 16 Feb 1998, James Love wrote:
>> Janet Kornblum recently had a story in News.com which mentions PGP's
>> recent decision to drop adverstising blocking software.  Reportedly, PGP
>> was threatened with lawsuits from Internet companies, which claimed the
>> software was illegal, under US copyright laws.  Her story is at:
>
>That's absurd.  So, if I browse a site whose ads are all banner ads,
>and I turn off image loading, am I breaking the law?  What if I use
>Lynx?

No, I would suspect it is the transmission or inclusion of trademarked
domain names in the email filtering software that causes the problem.

>At home, I route packets to ad.linkexchange.com and www.doubleclick.net
>to a black hole so I'm not bothered by their ads.  Is this a copyright
>violation?

You are in violation of the Georgia statute against using trademarks
without permission.  (Note: I always maintained the allowing domainnames to
be trademarked was a bad idea. Although, I am kind of upset that someone
else has av8.net.)

I am certain however that you can block them since you are a party to the
communication. But perhaps you can't sell a product that tells other people
to block them if the product includes their trademarks.

>Am I a fast-forwarding criminal?

That I can't say. ;-)


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