Adblocker and Other Software Used to Block Ads Potential Legal Trouble

Software to block ads such as the popular Mozilla Firefox ad on, Adblocker Plus lets users block out unwanted ads that may or may not be of interest to them. As banners tend to be a hot spot for malicious code and spyware downloads, using software to block ads to remove banners makes sense. The popularity of such programs has made it a concern for companies that make their money off of Internet advertising. While no lawsuit has been filed over the use of such software yet, the Interactive Advertising Bureau says that no lawsuits have been panned yet.

The problem using software to block ads, such as Adblocker, is not that it enables people to ignore the ads displayed on web pages as people often do, but that the software acts a third party that blocks ads that the web site's owner and the affiliate program whose ads the owner of the website has chosen to be displayed. Legal action on the part of the Interactive Advertising Bureau is not being considered to stop software used to block ads, but the Interactive Advertising Bureau is looking for a way to take the middle ground that lets people block potentially malicious code which banners often include and let the legitimate advertisements get ignored or clicked on as dictated by the desires of the visitors to the sites containing the ads.

Ways to skip or block ads are not entirely a new concept. When the Betamax VCR technology first came onto the market, movie makers claimed that users would simply fast forward through commercials. The movie companies lost because it was felt that only 25% of the users viewing tapes on their VCR would use the technology in this fashion. Products that remove commercials from recorded broadcasts have been pulled after threatened legal action from advertising companies.

Several other companies have sued over software to block ads, but most cases have been dropped as they were settled out of court. Adblock and Adblocker Plus will continue to remain popular ad ons for the Mozilla Firefox browser whether or not the companies that produce them get sued. It seems likely that software used to block ads will be changed not to block ads but merely to block malicious code such as another popular Firefox ad on, Noscript.

The legal issue, if suit is ever filed will center around whether using such software violates the copyrights of web site author's. Some sites such as Livejournal and Myspace do not allow the users to block the ads the company who owns them puts on their personal pages.

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