Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers
by pb7 on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @09:28PM
(#35896108)
Unprosecuted theft is still theft. You are breaking the terms of service, it's just not practical or cost effective to go after every person that does so because each individual damages are low.
I'm glad you agree it's unethical though. Keep that in mind when you see companies do unethical things because they think just like you. Everyone wants something for nothing.
In any case, this is why they're testing blocking ad-blockers. It's cost effective.
Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers
by wkat4242 on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @09:53PM
(#35896332)
Theft is a criminal law term. So is the act of prosecution. Terms of Service are a civil law thing. IANAL but this still makes it not theft in my view, but breach of contract.
It's questionable how enforceable a ToS is though that is only clicked with a button and in some cases (eg NewPipe) not shown at all. But either way it's civil law not criminal.
YouTube is totally within their rights to block adblocking viewers though. Which is a fine solution for this problem IMO. No need to get the law involved.
More and more sites are doing this now though on most of them it's easily bypassed (on the site I use the most I can just turn off JavaScript :) )
Re:YouTube tests blocking videos unless you disable ad blockers
by pb7 on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @10:22PM
(#35896546)
Theft is both criminal and civil. If you steal something from me, I can sue you in civil court to recoup the cost, and if it's a significant enough something, then I can also try to file a police report and get the DA to press charges against you. You're right, "prosecution" refers to criminal court, but you know what I meant.
In fact Google and all other big tech themselves do similar things too. They funnel all their proceeds through tax havens so they avoid paying corporate tax in the countries they turn over in.
Yet it's fully legal, because tax avoidance is not evasion and loopholes are loopholes. And thus they're not stealing from the countries they're depriving of their tax revenue.
When they do it it's totally fine. When I avoid paying it's not?
You're confusing your moral sense with the law. Sure it's unethical, depending on your views immoral but it's not illegal.