Don't tell me what I do at MY PERSONAL computer in MY FUCKING HOUSE what I do with data you freely provided for me!
The data isn't freely provided, though. The ads are how you pay. Not that I'm ever going to stop using an ad blocker.
Like TV? So people should be forced to watch ads instead of zapping away or take a piss?
My ad blockers are just an automatic way to... take a piss.
Also: not my problem, theirs if they can't find a way to force feed me ads.
No, not like TV since you pay for it.
Unless you want to have a system where you directly pay a few fractions of a cent per site visit, ads are how the site pays for hosting, administration, development, etc.
If it were just ads. But every ad is a tracking tool.
Right, that's definitely a problem. I'm not defending ads, as I block them whenever I can.
I'm just saying that the content wasn't intended to be free like the TLC claimed.
You're right, it's not free. I pay my ISP a large sum to transfer over all those ads!
Hosting a website costs money. This really isn't a difficult concept.
Don't host. No one is forcing you to host a site.
I host 2 different sites, all content is CC0, WTFPL, or public domain depending on your local laws or preferences.
There are no cookies, no tracking and minimal, functional javascript ... and absolutely no fucking ads.
I do it for the small communities these sites help and costs me almost nothing to host.
I still hosted while I was unemployed recently. If I can't pay for any reason I'll stop hosting, will not ask donations.
It'll be ok, these communities do not depend on the site data and it's copied all over by now.
I still believe the internet is a place for sharing freely and will never quit thinking that way.
Don't want me in your site? Fine, just tell me and I'll go. No hurt feelings, no drama, I'll just bugger off.
You are aware that not every site confirms to your use case, right?
I'm not even arguing in support of ads; I use ad blockers everywhere I can. I'm just saying that sites that use ads to support their costs aren't free like the top level comment said.
I'm aware of many things, in this case I just don't care. They can stop hosting or stop me from viewing their site.
If asked to go, I'll go immediately. It is common for sites to ask me to disable ad blocking, I won't so I leave.
If it isn't free then block me from viewing. I'll stay on the free internet just fine.
I never agreed sharing costs and will never do so in the case of ads.
They decided to host, I wasn't contacted to help share the cost of hosting nor ever agreed to ads.
They can leave the internet for all I care, it's full anyway.
Have you ever asked why don't they just put these sites behind a password, user sign in or other blocking methods?
The capability exists in most web servers. Why won't they do it?
Another desperate attempt by technologically illiterate media giants to hold on to their ad revenue. Even if this would pass into legislation somehow, good luck enforcing it.
I think what people don't understand is that this is a single step forward. They don't expect to be able to enforce it straight away. But this sets a precedent. It's a stepping stone. First get it written into law, then inch ever closer to their goal. Same thing with the UK, they know some people will find ways around it.
They don't need to get everyone, just most people. Then they can go after the skilled minority with harsher penalties or whatever.
Also, please don't think it matters for a second that they are tech illiterate- they are running errands for the big corporations and the wealthy elite, who have plenty of money to spend on technical experts to enforce the bullshit.
Sorry but I just don't buy this slippery slope argument. Like what is the next step then and what is stopping them from taking that step straight away?
It is when they can force you to buy phones with apps you cannot uninstall that disable the blockers. We've alreadt started tumbling down in some senses.
That is quite simple - require a govt issued digital ID, prohibit it from working on de-googled phones. This sort of thing: https://expose-news.com/2025/08/15/if-you-have-de-googled-your-phone/
Democracy and liberty is under concerted attack all over the world. We need to organize globally and rise up or we will lose everything.
It blew my mind to hear my friend in New Dheli talk about the same issues we have in the US. The phenomenon is mind-boggling. Everything crashing at one time everywhere...
Because the same billionaires are in charge everywhere.
Yeah, this is definitely feeling like the point where we need to look for an offramp from the Web
just don't use their sites. done.
they believe they are indispensable. they believe that we NEED them.
they are wrong.
if there is malware on a site one visits, is it illegal to not download it?
Tech related news and discussion. Link to anything, it doesn't need to be a news article.
Let's keep the politics and business side of things to a minimum.
No memes