Managing Rights Management

Ad Blocking Poll: Norton Internet Security

It's not clear whether under copyright law consumers can strip advertising from web pages. One legal theory is that the stripped page is a derivative work. Under copyright law, rightsholders can reserve the right to create derivatives for themselves.

As noted, Symantec has dropped the adblocking feature from the 2008 version of Norton Internet Security. The poll results are in:

The number of voters is small--37--but the sentiment is clear: restore ad blocking.

Ad Blocking Poll To Close 3-15 - Norton Internet Security

Symantec has indicated that it will no longer support the ad removal feature of Norton Internet Security 2008. The poll running in the right hand column will close on the Ides of March, Saturday, March 15th. Please indicate your preferences before then.

Philips and IBM DRM Patent Applications

Thursday the USPTO publishes new patent applications. Both of today's Spotlight applications address certain aspects of DRM. Assigned to Philips, the first application discloses state information in DRM identifier for ad DRM. Assigned to IBM, the second application discloses techniques for supporting digital rights management in an enhanced Java 2 runtime environment.

Symantec NIS Ad Blocking Poll - Vote Here

The issue of ad blocking has generated a few comments to a previously blogical on the topic. I've posted a quick poll on the subject which should appear at the top of the right column. In a few days I'll let Symantec know of the poll and the results.

Norton Internet Security Drops Ad Blocking For 2008 Version

In November I reported that Symantec had apparently dropped the ad blocking feature of Norton Internet Security, a feature I depend on.

While at the Consumer Electronics Show last week I asked Cecilia Daclan, Senior Manager, Consumer Public Relations at Symantec about the removal of the ad blocking feature. She agreed to look into the matter and in follow up email, here's what Ms. Daclan wrote:

Norton Internet Security 2007 users will find the ad blocking feature in the add-on pack.  However, we did remove the ad blocking feature from the Norton Internet Security 2008 add-on pack.  Therefore, if you have Norton Internet Security 2007 you can take advantage of the ad blocking feature by downloading it for free via the add-on pack.  If you have Norton Internet Security 2008, that feature is no longer available.

We're evaluating the ad blocking feature for future releases of Norton Internet Security.

Here's one vote for Symantec continuing to support the ad blocking feature.

 

DRM 3.0 - Privacy

Dennis McDonald posted a comment on my DRM 3.0 blogicle asking, "Did any of the industry folks you talked with say anything about possible privacy implications for "DRM 3.0" applications?" The direct answer is "yes and no."

Privacy issues turn, in my view, on what is done with information relating to user behavior. However, privacy is not the only issue raised by DRM 3.0 models.

Some ISPs are threatening to interdict and prevent the transfer of copyrighted media content (especially if that content belongs to large companies). If ISPs provide user specific information to the RIAA, MPAA, or other stakeholders that then becomes the basis for civil litigation or criminal prosecution, then privacy is obviously a major concern to all.

Microsoft Advertising and Apple Code Injection Patent Applications

The blogosphere has been busy discussing recent patent applications from Microsoft and Apple. In many cases, these applications have been discussed as if they had already been issued by the USPTO, which they have not. The Microsoft application addresses techniques for ensuring that advertising in video objects is seen before the non-advertising content is displayed. The Apple application (actually, the second of two this year with similar specifications, the first is this one from January 4th), enables code to be injected at run time into an executable. This technique can be used to bind an operating system or application to a particular hardware or software platform.

China jails man for ad stripping software

As noted earlier, ad stripping is practiced in the US through browser plugins. At least until recently, Norton Internet Security provided a robust ad stripping capability.

[Tip o' the hat to Dave] Now the Wall Street Journal reports that Chen Shoufu, a 28 year old computer science instructor, has been arrested for distributing a program (Coral QQ) that strips ads from QQ, China's dominant instant messaging network.

Tencent [the operator of QQ] first complained to Mr. Chen in late 2002, saying Coral QQ violated its copyright and warning him to stop distributing it. He did. Mr. Chen then devised a noninvasive "patch" on the program -- a separate piece of software -- that would run concurrently with QQ on a user's computer and modify it as the two went humming along. In 2003, he resumed offering Coral QQ.

In 2006, as it became increasingly apparent that Coral QQ was only growing in popularity, Tencent filed a 500,000 yuan ($68,000) lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against Mr. Chen and won a judgment for 100,000 yuan, which Mr. Chen paid. In early August, Tencent complained to the police in Shenzhen, where it has its headquarters, and on Aug. 16 Mr. Chen was detained. Tencent said Mr. Chen was "making illegal profits and infringing on Tencent's copyright."

Symantec And The Right To Block Banner Ads and Popups

Back in September I noted an article suggesting that Web ad blocking may not be legal. One legal theory is that the recipient of a Web page doesn't have the right to create a derivative work by deleting one or more banner ads.

I noted then that  Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2006 has a very effective ad blocking feature. Now, it seems, that Symantec has removed this feature from the 2006 and subsequent versions. One can only wonder why. Legal advise? Pressure from advertisers or advertising providers such as Google? Don't know.

Here's what I do know. Because the software update feature was failing, I elected to use their removal tool and reinstall the software from the version I had downloaded in 2006. Following installation, the LiveUpdate feature downloads and installs the current files, including software and virus definition updates.

At the completion of this process the privacy feature which blocks banner ads and popup advertising had disappeared, both as user accessible options and in the Symantec supplied Help files.

However, using the Internet Archive's WaybackMachine, the product feature page for Norton Internet Security 2006 from January 1, 2006 has as the last entry in a list of features: Blocks banner ads and popup windows.

For the moment, at least, the story ends OK. I was able to restore the previous version with ad and popup blocking from my backup file (love Acronis' backup software!).

NYTimes To Liberate Paid Content

The New York Times announced yesterday that its TimesSelect paid content service for opinion articles will end tomorrow. Instead, the Times will convert to an advertising based model. According to a MarketWatch article, the Times concluded that revenue growth from vertising would be greater than revenue growth from paid subscriptions.

I believe the Wall Street Journal (including Barrons) as the only major mostly paid news source, although a number of financial news sites (e.g., TheStreet.com, MarketWatch) charge for premium content.

As noted, there may be some sort of litigation in the future to prevent people from using browser plug-ins and other tools to remove advertising.

Web ad blocking may not be legal

[tip o'the hat to GigaLaw] A CNET article says that there may be litigation over ad blocking. The article is worth a read.

It doesn't mention security products like Norton Internet Security 2006 from Symantec (haven't looked closely at the 2008 version) which has a very effective ad blocking capability that they acquired some years ago and have developed since then. I understand that other antivirus / security software products also include ad blocking, but haven't looked recently.

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