Adblock Plus and (a little) more

German Supreme Court: Ad blocking is legal, Axel Springer lose final appeal · 2018-04-19 17:24 by Tom Woolford

Maybe you’ve been following along, maybe you haven’t, but I’ll keep it short: Axel Springer publishing house has been trying to get ad blocking declared illegal. We beat them in the regional courts, we beat them in the appeals court, so they took us to the supreme court in Germany to try their luck a third time.

Today, we are extremely pleased with the ruling from Germany’s Supreme Court in favor of Adblock Plus/eyeo and against the German media publishing company Axel Springer.

This ruling confirms — just as the regional courts in Munich and Hamburg stated previously — that people have the right in Germany to block ads. This case had already been tried in the Cologne Regional Court, then in the Regional Court of Appeals, also in Cologne – with similar results. It also confirms that Adblock Plus can use a whitelist to allow certain acceptable ads through. Today’s Supreme Court decision puts an end to Axel Springer’s claim that they be treated differently for the whitelisting portion of Adblock Plus’ business model.

We are excited that Germany’s highest court upheld the right every internet citizen possesses to block unwanted advertising online. As we have since 2014, we will continue to fight for users’ rights in Germany and around the world.

So, it’s been a good day for internet users and ABP today. If you’re interested, you can read a little more about the story here and here.

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Comment [4]

  1. I love ABP · 2018-04-19 18:43 · #

    Congratulation :-)

    Reply from Tom Woolford:

    Thanks!!

  2. vann · 2018-04-20 01:21 · #

    You guys have done more than anyone in this space for the rest of us. Not only have you guys pioneered ad blocking, but bare the legality costs for the rest of them. They should all thanks you for it. Congratulation from a long time user!

    Reply from Tom Woolford:

    And we’ll keep doing it! The rights of the user are massively important to us, so we’ll always have your back.

    Thanks for your support!

  3. ABP FTW · 2018-04-20 12:08 · #

    You guys don’t get nearly the recognition you deserve! What you have done for the internet and the people is incredible and the net would not be the same without you! Thank you!

    Reply from Tom Woolford:

    No no, thank YOU. Without the support of our users it would be much harder to fight these battles. Knowing that you support us helps so much!

    Reply from Tom Woolford:

    No no, thank YOU. Without the support of our users it would be much harder to fight these battles. Knowing that you support us helps so much!

  4. Williams · 2018-05-13 17:38 · #

    Is this the start of black era for technical blogs.
    I have recently started my technical blog
    your top best
    But now I am not sure how to go about the same ?
    I am presenting top websites and apps

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