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Aye-aye Eyeo, go safely on your way-o, says German judge

Adblock Plus maker's activities are definitely legal

A Munich court ruled on Wednesday (May 27) that there was nothing illegal about the activities of Eyeo, owner of Adblock Plus.

For the advert blocking toolmaker, this is the second win in as many months. German broadcasters RTL Interactive and ProSiebenSat1, claimed that users should not be able to block all ads on their websites. However, while it may pose a real threat to the publishers’ revenue stream, the court found that it was not against the law.

Adding to the controversy is Eyeo’s paid-for “whitelist”, which allows anyone who coughs up enough cash and adheres to its “Acceptable Ads Policy” to have their ads shown. Eyeo’s standards generally mean these adverts must be unobtrusive, but users can still choose to block them as well.

Last month a court in Hamburg ruled in favour of Eyeo against German publishers Zeit Online and Handelsblatt.

The last throw of the dice will go to German media giant Axel Springer in a case before the Cologne court.

According to Eyeo, AdBlock Plus is used on 50 million devices. ®

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