←back to thread

178 points elsewhen | 3 comments | | HN request time: 1.034s | source
Show context
keb_ ◴[] No.41854693[source]
I'm torn. I'm not a huge fan of malware and I don't have a lot of respect for the modern ad networks. However this culture of expecting websites to host the data then freeloading off it by blocking the tracking and ads is also a bit ugly.

There is an unwritten social contract here. Websites are willing to host and organise a vast number of content because that'll attract an audience for ads. If there are too may freeloaders resisting the ads then services won't host the content, and on the path to that the freeloaders are really just leeching off a system in an entitled way (unless their goal is to destroy the services they use in which case good on them for consistency and for picking a worthy target).

If people aren't going to be polite and accept that contract then fine, enforcement was always by an honour system. But strategically if a service's social contract doesn't work for someone then they shouldn't use that service - they'd just be feeding the beast. They should go make their own service work or investigate the long list of alternative platforms.

replies(10): >>41854706 #>>41854711 #>>41855498 #>>41856070 #>>41856197 #>>41856284 #>>41856893 #>>41858217 #>>41858534 #>>41861410 #
1. moxvallix ◴[] No.41856197[source]
The websites are welcome to expect payment if they so desire. They chose to host the content for free, and we get to choose which of that content we consume, and which of it we block. They have as much of a right to advertise as we have to block advertisements.
replies(1): >>41860601 #
2. tzs ◴[] No.41860601[source]
And they have a right to only allow non-paid users to access their site through the their app or through a browser that is running in an environment where it can securely attest that the browser and its environment are to the site's liking.

That's going to be annoying.

replies(1): >>41873101 #
3. asadotzler ◴[] No.41873101[source]
They do not have that right.