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Comment on Mozilla warns Germany could soon declare ad blockers illegal

I speak German legalese (don't ask) so I went to the actual source and read up on the decision.

The higher court simply stated that the Appeals court didn't consider the impact of source code to byte code transformation in their ruling, meaning they had not provided references justifying the fact they had ignored the transformation. Their contention is that there might be protected software in the byte code, and if the ad blocker modified the byte code (either directly or by modifying the source), then that would constitute a modification of code and hence run afoul of copyright protections as derivative work.

Sounds more like, "Appeals court has to do their homework" than "ad blockers illegal."

The ruling is a little painful to read, because as usual the courts are not particularly good at technical issues or controversies, so don't quote me on the exact details. In particular, they use the word Vervielfältigung a lot, which means (mass) copy, which is definitely not happening here. The way it reads, Springer simply made the case that a particular section of the ruling didn't have any reasoning or citations attached and demanded them, which I guess is fair. More billable hours for the lawyers!

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drmoose@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

and if the ad blocker modified the byte code (either directly or by modifying the source), then that would constitute a modification of code and hence run afoul of copyright protections as derivative work.

Insanity - modifying code that runs on your machine in no way is even remotely related to copyright.

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- Jarix@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Cracking code/verification systems on your computer is also code running on your system, there are literally people in prison for running the code that cracks a program, BECAUSE of copyright laws.
  
  So I’m not sure your setting how bad it already is for users.
  
  (What should be, is not what we are talking about, for the record)
  
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themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I wouldn’t call it fair, this is a clear cut case of copyright law abuse and they shouldn’t be able to make dumb stuff up and waste everyones time. This shouldn’t even be a case.

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- manxu@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Honestly, a lot of modern copyright law is very shady. You can get in major trouble for ripping a CD or DVD? That sounds insane. And what about not being allowed to repair your own tractor? Do you remember the baby dancing to some music, that was then DMCA-ed away?
  
  My favorite is still the absolutely bonkers almost 100 years on copyrights. That has absolutely nothing to do with "the Progress of Science and useful Arts," everything with lining the pockets of copyright holders.
  
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  - ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Back in the 90s when the current iteration of copyright laws were being passed, many lawyers disdainfully referred to the act as the ‘Mickey Mouse Copyright Act’ In no small part because Disney was such a huge driver behind it. They did everything, and I mean EVERYTHING possible to delay the release of their IPs to public domain. There is a reason why the earliest iterations of Mickey Mouse coming out were such a big deal. Did you know that if they didn’t act like assholes back in the day, and pre-70s copyright were still in effect, Mickey and Minnie Mouse would be fully public domain as early as 1984?
    
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    turmacar@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    German copyright laws?
    
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  - drmoose@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    That’s why I’m rooting for LLMs to destroy copyright completely. Haters gonna hate but copyright is so broken the best path forward is to completely destroy it and start over.
    
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  - vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Honestly every law usable to keep a business working that would fail otherwise is shady. Other than preventing (literal physical) theft, robberies and murders.
    
    Especially if it limits your freedom to do whatever you want that doesn’t involve stealing, robbing, killing, raping, putting stuff on fire …
    
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  - Pulptastic@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    
    lining the pockets of copyright lawyers
    
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- neclimdul@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  If what manxu said is true it might be both courts agree I am clear cut. It sounds more like a pull request getting rejected because of quality issues. “Fix it and resubmit. We don’t want this happening again”
  
  I’ve learned courts have a lot of jargon and procedures that don’t make sense on the surface. some things that sound bad actually are for your benefit and it’s best to get a lawyer to translate.
  
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