The Ethics Of Pop-ups (and Tivo Too)

[jfortun]

Web pop-ups are a constant annoyance. A larger amount of sites which provide "free" content rely on popups to grab your attention and attract the attention of customers who hopefully will at least click on the advertisers link.

Since we all know that providing content on the web is not free, when we choose to view a sites content do we also implicitly agree to at least view the advertising that makes a site possible? What are moral implications of employing a pop-up blocker?

Similarly, Tivo, a grand modern invention, allows its users to skip past TV commercials- the chief source if income that makes prodution of TV shows possible. Is it ethical to skip commercials?

[Godless Capitalist]

I don't see a problem with either one. In both cases the content is provided to you for free with your having made any agreement to look at the accompanying ads.

[Bryan]

Similarly, Tivo, a grand modern invention, allows its users to skip past TV commercials- the chief source if income that makes prodution of TV shows possible.  Is it ethical to skip commercials?

What about getting up and going to the bathroom during a commercial break or channel surfing other stations while there are commercials on? If using a Tivo to skip commercials is unethical, these practices would be unethical as well. You have a choice on whether or not you want to view a commercial or not. If you choose not to view an ad, the method you employ to not view it is your choice as well.

I think that this is an issue that the free market will solve. If advertisers don't feel like they're getting enough bang for their marketing buck because of these new technologies, they will stop paying for commercials in their current form. Content providers (TV stations and internet sites) that depend on this money will have to find new ways for companies to advertise or find another way to generate income.

[Prae]

I don't mind commercials at all. Lately they have been more clever and some have even been actually funny. I used to get up and do other things or change the channel during the commercial break but I now find myself more willing to watch the commercials.

I hate pop-ups however. If a web site is going to advertise I prefer it when they put the advertisements in the bars on the web sites. The thing that bothers me so much about pop-ups is that so many of them cause problems with my computer. Many of them don't go away when I click the 'close' button, and some of them continuosly come back after I hit the 'close' button.

Some pop-ups also ask if you want to install things on your computer. This is very sneaky because in almost every case these programs were not good to install (except things like Direct X etc.) Many contain Spyware and Adware which is extremely hard to get off your computer. I am still trying to get an Adware off my computer called Offer Optimizer. It decides what ads I would most like to see and shows me them. It also slows my internet connection down.

So that is why I hate pop-ups. Not because they advertise, but because I believe they do so unethicaly.

[DavidOdden]

What are moral implications of employing a pop-up blocker?

Offhand, it seems to imply that you value your own time more than the time and programming skills of idiots. This is a good thing.

Is it ethical to skip commercials?

Also, yes. In either case, you have no relationship with the seller of the product, who has a relationship with the TV station or web-page provider. Coke pays CBS money to stick adds into the middle of the news, knowing that some people will decide to not watch the commercials. If you look carefully at the fineprint in your agreement with Tivo or Time Warner (if you have DVR/Cable), they never require you to watch the commercials.

Eventually, I imagine, commercial skipping will become common enough that standard advertising on TV will not be profitable. But they can insert advertising into the "content", just as they did in the old days. And if you don't like advertising at all, you can always pay for the more expensive channels like HBO.

[Bryan]

Many contain Spyware and Adware which is extremely hard to get off your computer. I am still trying to get an Adware off my computer called Offer Optimizer.

Have you heard of Adaware? It functions in the same manner as anti-virus software, in that it will search your hard drive and registry and remove all Adware and Spyware. They have updates rather frequently to keep up with new malicious software that sneaks into your computer. I've had great success with it in dealing with my Adware problems.

[Godless Capitalist]

I don't see a problem with either one. In both cases the content is provided to you for free with your having made any agreement to look at the accompanying ads.

oops! I meant " ... withOUT your having made any agreement ... " and for some reason I can't edit the original post.

[jfortun]

For the record, I am an enthusiastic user of both popup blockers and Tivo because, as GC states, there is no explicit contract between me and the content provider.

As Bryan, states, eventually free TV will have to change forms and the market will embrace commerical skipping devices (if it hasn't already). I am looking forward to true on-demand scenerios.

[Randrew]

On this note: what do you all think about the national "Do Not Call" list? On the one hand, it seems like an infringement on a company's right to advertise, but on the other hand, no one likes to have their time wasted by telemarketers. Although you can just hang up on them, the fact that you had to interrupt what you were doing and pick up the phone really sucks. I tend to favor the list.

[Capitalism Forever]

On this note: what do you all think about the national "Do Not Call" list?  On the one hand, it seems like an infringement on a company's right to advertise, but on the other hand, no one likes to have their time wasted by telemarketers.  Although you can just hang up on them, the fact that you had to interrupt what you were doing and pick up the phone really sucks.  I  tend to favor the list.

A phone line is created by the phone company, therefore, the company has the initial right to determine what purposes the phone line may be used for. When the company leases the phone line to you, they grant you this right. Thus, you have a right to determine what purposes your phone line may be used for; for example, you can say that you do not allow telemarketers to call you.

[DavidOdden]

A phone line is created by the phone company, therefore, the company has the initial right to determine what purposes the phone line may be used for. When the company leases the phone line to you, they grant you this right. Thus, you have a right to determine what purposes your phone line may be used for; for example, you can say that you do not allow telemarketers to call you.

The thing that irritated me about that law was that the underlying idea was perfectly valid, but the implementation was completely wrong. This is a matter between me and my phone company, and doesn't properly involve the government.

[Sesklo]

I just wanted to second Bryan's endorsement of Adaware. It is very very good - I have found it far superior to other programs of this sort for removing junk from the registry and data miners.

I occasionally do computer repair as a side-business, and I install it on all the computers I fix. A note about this, however- if you have certain internet service providers, such as SBC, Adaware can interfere with some of the extra features of the ISP's software because it sees them as spyware. Just Google Adaware and you will find the free download.

[Prae]

Have you heard of Adaware?  It functions in the same manner as anti-virus software, in that it will search your hard drive and registry and remove all Adware and Spyware.  They have updates rather frequently to keep up with new malicious software that sneaks into your computer.  I've had great success with it in dealing with my Adware problems.

Thank you for recommending this. I will find it and download it immediately.

[Prae]

On this note: what do you all think about the national "Do Not Call" list?  On the one hand, it seems like an infringement on a company's right to advertise, but on the other hand, no one likes to have their time wasted by telemarketers.  Although you can just hang up on them, the fact that you had to interrupt what you were doing and pick up the phone really sucks.  I  tend to favor the list.

I have always felt that telemarketers calling my house felt like an invasion. The only way I could ever stop this was by pulling out the cord.

"If I wanted insurance I would have called you." I remember saying that once to a man who called me while I was watching an exciting part of a movie. When the Do Not Call list came about I signed up immediately. Now I don't have to worry about being interrupted while watching TV to hear an important message about how to refinance my credit.

[argive99]

Here is the link to an awesome bulletin board for purging your system of malware (adware and spyware and viruses). If you browse through the posts and read the FAQs you will see that if you are having problems with popups and other malware that you should download HijackThis and scan your system. Then copy and paste this log into a post on the forum and wait for instructions on how to clean your registry. It truly is an invaluable free service these techies provide. Familiarize yourself with the site for a few days and download all the free protective software they reccommend: Spywareguard, Spyblaster, SpyBot, Adaware, CWS Shredder, and HijackThis. This forum litterally resurected my system.

http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?

[Capitalism Forever]

The thing that irritated me about that law was that the underlying idea was perfectly valid, but the implementation was completely wrong. This is a matter between me and my phone company, and doesn't properly involve the government.

That's right, of course.

[DavidV]

I can’t remember the last time I ever had a virus or any kind of malware on my computer, even though I spend an enormous amount of time on the computer. The only adware I have is software I knowingly installed because it was a required component of a free application. I download all sorts of files, try out every new software program that I come across, and generally abuse my computer in every way imaginable.

I don’t have a virus scanner, and although I regularly scan with ad-aware, it’s never found any malware on computer.

There are three reasons for this:

(a.) I don’t run anything unless I know what it is.

b.) I keep all my software up to date.

(c.) I use FireFox instead of Internet Explorer. It’s also had built-in popup blocking from the beginning.

[argive99]

(c.) I use FireFox instead of Internet Explorer.  It’s also had built-in popup blocking from the beginning.

That in itself will prevent most malware from infecting your system. Firefox is awesome. But if you used IE without some type of spyware guards or remover, your system would, in time, get hijacked. It has happened to me in the past and if you read the forum posts at the site I linked to a couple of posts above, you will read computer horror stories.

[RationalBiker]

(c.) I use FireFox instead of Internet Explorer.  It’s also had built-in popup blocking from the beginning.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm trying it and I like it so far.

VES