Content Blocking (Firefox)

[theereal]

A heads up to Firefox users (myself included) looks like were going to have to make a switch, as Firefox seems to be leaning towards allowing content such as ads to be displayed in their browser...

https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2015/10/07/proposed-principles-for-content-blocking/

[Jade]

Again, copypasta because OP didn't.

Content blocking has become a hot issue across the Web and mobile ecosystems. It was already becoming pervasive on desktop, and now Apple’s iOS has made it possible to develop iOS applications whose purpose is to block content. This caused the most recent flurry of activity, concern and focus. We need to pay attention.

Content blocking is not going away – it is now part of our online experience. But the landscape isn’t well understood, making it harder to know how best to advance a healthy, open Web. Users want it –whether to avoid the display of ads, protect against unwanted tracking, improve load speed, or reduce data consumption– and we need to address how we as an industry should respond. We wanted to start by hacking on proposed principles for content blocking. The growing availability and use of content blockers tells us that users want to control their experience.

This is a good thing. But some content blocking could be harmful in ways that may not be obvious. For example, if content blocking creates new gatekeepers who can pick winners and losers in the publishing space or who favor their own content over others’, it ultimately harms competition and innovation. In the long run, users could lose as much control as they gain. The same happens if the commercial model of the Web is not part of the content blocking debate.

In my last post, I conveyed our intention to engage with this landscape, not solely through analysis and research, but also through experimentation, product development, and advocacy.

To help guide our efforts and hopefully inform others, we’ve developed three proposed “content blocking principles” that would help advance the beneficial effects of content blocking while minimizing the risks. We want your help hacking on them. Just as our data privacy principles help guide our data practices, these content blocking principles will help guide what we build and what we support across the industry.

Content is not inherently good or bad – with some notable exceptions, such as malware. So these principles aren’t about what content is OK to block and what isn’t. They speak to how and why content can be blocked, and how the user can be maintained at the center through that process.

At Mozilla, our mission is to ensure a Web that is open and trusted and that puts our users in control. For content blocking, here is what we think that means:

• Content Neutrality: Content blocking software should focus on addressing potential  user needs  (such as on performance, security, and privacy) instead of blocking specific types of content (such as advertising).
• Transparency & Control: The content blocking software should provide users with transparency and meaningful controls over the needs it is attempting to address.
• Openness: Blocking should maintain a level playing field and should block under the same principles regardless of source of the content. Publishers and other content providers should be given ways to participate in an open Web ecosystem, instead of being placed in a permanent penalty box that closes off the Web to their products and services.

Tell us what you think of these proposed principles on your social channels using #contentblocking and join us on Friday October 9 at 11am PT for our #BlockParty, a conversation around the problems and possible solutions to the content blocking question. We look forward to working with our users, our partners and the rest of the Web ecosystem to advance our shared goal of a healthy, open Web.

 

Now here's the fun part: What browser are you gonna switch to?

[theereal]

Now here's the fun part: What browser are you gonna switch to?

Something like Tor perhaps.

[ObeseWalrus]

I'd not be using µblock in the first place if yt did not put 3 min ads on 20 second videos regardless if the author turns them off or not.

[theereal]

I'd not be using µblock in the first place if yt did not put 3 min ads on 20 second videos regardless if the author turns them off or not.

I was okay with small popups on the screen, but not long commercials.

[Trik'Stari]

And here I was, about to switch back to firefox.

 

Goddamnit.

[Darkman]

I literally only use adblockers on most sites just so I can fucking load a webpage... Flash ads, and ads that take up half of a webpage = internet taking 5 minutes to load it... Seeing that my connection is really fucking unstable all the time and my speeds dip to basically nothing randomly during the day...

[Guest]

Uh, what? Ads load in Firefox already.

[spwath]

Maxthon FTW

[TopWargamer]

Now here's the fun part: What browser are you gonna switch to?

Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi, Edge, Torch, Midori, etc.

 

EDIT: And as the person below me just said, Waterfox is also a viable option and is arguably better than Firefox.

[iamdarkyoshi]

And here I was, about to switch back to firefox.

 

Goddamnit.

Waterfox?

[Jade]

Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi, Edge, Torch, Midori, etc.

Edge: What a joke, though, let's be realsies.

Chrome/Opera/Vivaldi: All based off Chromium. Most people still using Firefox have a goddamn vendetta against Chrom(e)(ium). Pretty sure Torch is also based off Chromium but not sure.

[TopWargamer]

Edge: What a joke, though, let's be realsies.

Chrome/Opera/Vivaldi: All based off Chromium. Most people still using Firefox have a goddamn vendetta against Chrom(e)(ium). Pretty sure Torch is also based off Chromium but not sure.

Edge is very good though IMO. It's just missing extensions.

 

And ya, I'm almost positive that Torch is based on Chromium as well. How come most Firefox users have a vendetta against Chromium based web browsers?

[Yakusoku]

Does Aurora get the same treatment?

[Guest]

I'll say it again for the sake of talking to myself, but I fail to see anything in this article about Firefox "allowing ads" in any capacity.

[iwasaperson]

I fail to see how this would block any addons such as uBlock Origin. I'm not going to switch unless they do something like that. As long as the browser stays libre and they don't do stuff like block certain plugins, I'll continue to use it (or at least rebrands like Iceweasel/Icecat/Abrowser like I use now).

[GoldSrc]

Meh, I will turn off uBlock on youtube the next year and try to live without it for the entirety of 2016, I will only keep in on annoying websites.

[EChondo]

I've been fine using Pale Moon as my Firefox alternative. I think it's much better since it doesn't crash my OS unlike Firefox.

[colonel_mortis]

The article doesn't say anything about bypassing adblockers in firefox... It is just a blog post by a mozilla employee encouraging ad blockers to think about what they block and not just go out and block everything. Mozilla aren't trying to ban adblockers, but they are encouraging a debate on their use.

[Syntaxvgm]

The article doesn't say anything about bypassing adblockers in firefox... It is just a blog post by a mozilla employee encouraging ad blockers to think about what they block and not just go out and block everything. Mozilla aren't trying to ban adblockers, but they are encouraging a debate on their use.

They're already in an outrage circle jerk. Quiet. You're ruining it with facts and logic. 

[Miguel Batista]

The article doesn't say anything about bypassing adblockers in firefox... It is just a blog post by a mozilla employee encouraging ad blockers to think about what they block and not just go out and block everything. Mozilla aren't trying to ban adblockers, but they are encouraging a debate on their use.

They're already in an outrage circle jerk. Quiet. You're ruining it with facts and logic.

Thank god for you two. I was getting very confused because I couldn't glean from the news what was driving all people ti outrage. I am not crazy! ^^

[ZetZet]

Again, copypasta because OP didn't.

 

 

Now here's the fun part: What browser are you gonna switch to?

Chrome. Chrome. Chrome.

[Dabombinable]

Time to break out IE.

[Daegun]

Chrome. Chrome. Chrome.

You mean, the one that actually does try to bypass adblockers?

[JoshB2084]

I literally only use adblockers on most sites just so I can fucking load a webpage... Flash ads, and ads that take up half of a webpage = internet taking 5 minutes to load it... Seeing that my connection is really fucking unstable all the time and my speeds dip to basically nothing randomly during the day...

You can disabling flash plugin as flash ads on specialty websites, but downside that websites use HTML5 ads if you disabled Flash plugin.