WebUser 01 May 2019

72 1 - 14 May 2019

Using an ad blocker isnot
stealing!
The letter fromKeith Amersham in Issue
472, ‘Using an ad blocker is likestealing’,
had me shakingmy head in disbelief.
Mr Amersham seemsto think that
becauseweb designers have published
their sitesto the
web and placed
some adverts on
them, then they
are due some
recompense.
This is tosh.
Publishinga
website to an open area of the internet is
like a loss-leader in thevast majority of
business cases.Websites are simplya
channelto sell something, whether that
something is physical items, software or
information. Nobody hasto read adverts
if they don’twant to. If your website
content isvaluable enoughto visitors,
then you could look into alternativeways
to fund it, such as a membership area or
a pa ywall.
Personally, I’ve developed a skill where
I barely notice adverts anymore. If I visit
a site andmy consciousness filters out
the advert, am Istealing thecontent?
Of course not. Although adverts can be
annoying – some more than others–

accusing people who use ad blockers of

“stealing” is ridiculous.

Martin Dimmock, via email

BarryCollins doth protest

too much about payments

I ha ve just read Barry’s diatribe against

both his utilitycompany and his bank in

Issue 463, ‘You can bank on unfair loyalty

penalties’, andcould barely believe it.

Firstly, if his original direct debitfor

his utility billwas only £65 per month,

he must have had the bargain of the

century, unless he lives in a one-room

hovel, since I believe the averagecost is

almost twice this figurefor gas and

electricitycombined.

Barry is a freelance journalist, so he

presumablyworks from home, which

means having the heating on all day in

winter; and as he is atechie, he must have

lots of gadgetsconsuming loads of juice,

so the figure doesn’t seemto ring true.

Barry freely admits hefailed to

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5

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Quiz Answers: Issue 473

Surfin’ Bird

KungFu Fighting

Disco Duck

The Birdie Song

Turtle Power

Barbie Girl

A

fter readingyour ne ws story

about ISPs offering their

customers automatic

compensationfor poor service

(‘Broadband usersto get automatic

payouts’, Needto Know, Issue473),

I ha ve to say that it’s about time!

We seemto sufferat least one

outage withVirg in Mediaevery month,

which leaves us without internet and

often without TV channels,too, for

several hours. In some cases the ‘fault’

has lasted for a day or two, with no

explanationfor its cause or apology

for the inconvenience incurred.

Now that so many devices in our

homesrely on the internet – not just

computers, but tablets, AmazonEchos

and so on – being unableto get online

is a massive pain, so it’s only right that

Why should we pay for ISP outages?

the companiesresponsible should

compensate us. Broadband isn’t cheap,

after all, so why shouldwe have to pay

for a whole day whenwe were unable

to use it?

If my train is delayed, I always claim

compensation, not only because train

tickets are ridiculouslyexpensive and

arriving an hour late at your

destination is enormously

incon venient, but because ifyou don’t

claim, then therailway operators will

think they cankeep on gettingaway

with poor service. The same appliesto

internet providers but until now, few

have offered a simpleway to claim

your money back.

Automaticcompensation is

therefore both logical andwelcome,

although I note that itwas only after

pressure from Ofcom that ISPs

decided itwas a good idea. Obviously,

there are some internetfaults that

can’t be helped and take timeto fix,

but why should customers have to

effectivelyfoot the bill?

Anna Houghton, via email

Star Email

You can let us know your views via:

[email protected]. uk,www.face book.com/webusermagazine

Inbox andwww.twitter.com/webusermagazine

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