AdBlock Plus wins court battle vs news publishers in Germany

Two news companies in Germany, Die Zeit and Handelsblatt have lost a court case in Germany against AdBlock Plus - the plug in that stops adverts appearing on websites. They claim it is anti-competitive and illegal. However, the Hamburg court concluded that the activities were not illegal. In a statement on AdBlock Plus' blog, founder Ben Williams said:

Today, after a four-month trial, reasonable heads prevailed as the regional court in Hamburg ruled in our favor by declaring that ad blocking is, in fact, perfectly legal. I know, it’s restating the obvious. But it cost us lots of blood, sweat and tears nonetheless.

The Hamburg court decision is an important one because it sets a precedent that may help us avoid additional lawsuits and expenses defending what we feel is an obvious consumer right: giving people the ability to control their own screens by letting them block annoying ads and protect their privacy.

Comment

There's a few things that are a bit odd about this costly, fairly pointless court case. There's no way by law AdBlocker can be classed as illegal. It's like somebody selling a service where they buy a newspaper, cut out the ads with scissors ad then sell it on to you. However, it is certainly understandable why websites and news organisations are frustrated about AdBlocker and similar plugins - it does cost them money. Saying that, there are some options that can be taken by these companies. For one, they can negotiate directly with AdBlocker who will unblock ads on their sites for a fee. They can also use software to detect where AdBlocker is being used and then take action to prevent people accessing the website unless they get rid of the plugin or disable it for their site. For example, ITV and Channel 4 have done this in the UK on their catch-up TV services. Surely that is better and cheaper than a court case?