Is using adblock the same as piracy?

[grasshoppermustard]

I was gonna mention sponsorblock but I was long beaten to it. I wonder how long until 'content creators' start bitching about that?

As I see it, Linus has an agreement with Google to display ads, but that's between them and I'm not a party to that agreement, so get fucked. I don't even have a Google account so I didn't agree to any terms and conditions before using youtube, it is public and served up automatically. If he really wants to see what his content is worth, just make all the videos members only and charge them a monthly fee, the option is there to do it, but of course that won't happen because the truth of the matter is most of the content is worthless and just filler for advertisements in the first place. It's like they think they are entitled to be paid simply for making a video.

They should consider themselves lucky that most mobile users are retarded and have no idea you can replace the default youtube app with something like vanced or newpipe. I don't know the numbers but I would guess a lot more people are watching videos on their phone or tablet and that most desktop users block the shit.

Fun fact - I dated a woman for a short time once, and told her I can block all those ads for you if you like. She responded no, that she liked them.

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Yep. I had to install BlockTube just because YouTube wouldn't stop recommending his fucking videos whilst I was watching other videos, even after I selected "Don't recommend channel" on my YT front page.

I only found out about BlockTube recently and it's made my YT experience so much better, I'm subscribed to about 40 channels all but a very minor percentage of them are Metalworking, Woodworking, and Farming / market garden stuff but for some reason it always wanted to push Minecraft (never once watched a video or looked it up), Rap / RnB / Drill -same again never watched anything like that or looked it up, Sports stuff, or Vloggers like KSI or alike and other subjects I've never expressed any intrest in ever and they kept popping back up to me all the time no matter how many times I blocked them.

Linus's stuff also got pushed whenever I looked up stuff like Camera tutorials, he's now blocked and I don't have to see his shit.

I was gonna mention sponsorblock but I was long beaten to it. I wonder how long until 'content creators' start bitching about that?

I think some have but it's mostly been about people saying skip to X to miss the adverts etc, I'm all for people making money but sponsorships especially the really obnoxious ones you'd see everywhere like Raid, VPN, or that phone case one just take the piss and have become a joke.

 

[Frail Snail]

Isn't it still possible to manually re-record it by sending the analog audio to Line In (or maybe another soundcard) and recording the input from it?
I was re-recording audio CDs this way back when home Internet access was still an uncommon thing.

Something similar is how I archive Spotify podcast episodes for personal use, yeah.

I was gonna mention sponsorblock but I was long beaten to it. I wonder how long until 'content creators' start bitching about that?

As I see it, Linus has an agreement with Google to display ads, but that's between them and I'm not a party to that agreement, so get fucked. I don't even have a Google account so I didn't agree to any terms and conditions before using youtube, it is public and served up automatically. If he really wants to see what his content is worth, just make all the videos members only and charge them a monthly fee, the option is there to do it, but of course that won't happen because the truth of the matter is most of the content is worthless and just filler for advertisements in the first place. It's like they think they are entitled to be paid simply for making a video.

Linus or any of the other soulless grifters aren't going to give a single shit about Sponsorblock until there comes a way for sponsors to tell who has watched the shill segment of a video. Remember, this is what caused the adblock equals piracy butthurt to begin with - Youtube has a way of telling if you've blocked the ad or not. What's disgusting is his moralizing on Twitter and in his videos about the issue, when it's a simple corporate position - cold, amoral and exclusively profit driven. If you found a way to skip the ads and not let Youtube know, he would drop all of this bullshit in a minute. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of a fucking leaf.

They should consider themselves lucky that most mobile users are retarded and have no idea you can replace the default youtube app with something like vanced or newpipe. I don't know the numbers but I would guess a lot more people are watching videos on their phone or tablet and that most desktop users block the shit.

Fun fact - I dated a woman for a short time once, and told her I can block all those ads for you if you like. She responded no, that she liked them.

Every single heavy mobile user I've personally talked to is living in ad hell and liking it, they are the perfect target. If you can't install it in a single click, they're not gonna bother. Youtube Vanced has a two step install with a microG package as well, better give up and suck marketer cock instead.

 

[Stasi]

Linus or any of the other soulless grifters aren't going to give a single shit about Sponsorblock until there comes a way for sponsors to tell who has watched the shill segment of a video.

I thought you could do that already? Or at least get an idea. When you hover over the view bar a little grey graph looking thing pops up on top to show which segments are popular, I always assumed that YouTube figuring out which parts people actually watched and skipped past.

I don't know if they get any actual numerical data on it though. Would be a big kick in the balls if sponsors asked for it, the way a lot of people shill these things in videos it seems they are massively reliant on sponsor segments after the adpocalypse.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

I take it you are actively drawing up divorce papers?

Meh, she can't help being a normie.
But she also doesn't refuse to watch the movies I pirate so I guess she can have her cake and eat it too.

 

[Pissmaster]

The real question is how much Linus ends up paying for his slice of "Asian Persuasion." Cause I doubt she was even remotely attracted to him for his good looks or big brain intellect.

Yvonne isn't much of a looker herself. I get the sense that Linus immediately threw a ring on the first girl he kissed. She's apparently the CFO of Linus Media Group, too: https://linusmediagroup.com/our-team

 

[hooboy]

so is this the de facto linus cuck tips thread now

 

[seri0us]

so is this the de facto linus cuck tips thread now

yes

 

[Seasoned News Reporter]

Yvonne isn't much of a looker herself. I get the sense that Linus immediately threw a ring on the first girl he kissed. She's apparently the CFO of Linus Media Group, too: https://linusmediagroup.com/our-team

I mean true but my standards aren't that high to begin with. She isn't fat so she's got more going for her than most. She should start a pornhub account called Linus Cuck Tips. She'd probably make even more money than linus makes right now.

 

[Pissmaster]

I mean true but my standards aren't that high to begin with. She isn't fat so she's got more going for her than most. She should start a pornhub account called Linus Cuck Tips. She'd probably make even more money than linus makes right now.

Wouldn't be that big of a jump, I mean, she's already a ho:

 

[grasshoppermustard]

Yvonne isn't much of a looker herself. I get the sense that Linus immediately threw a ring on the first girl he kissed. She's apparently the CFO of Linus Media Group, too: https://linusmediagroup.com/our-team

Not really much bipoc representation, I'm disappointed. Is Linus a closet racist who refuses to hire African Americans? I think it might be the case!

 

[AbyssGazer]

I can see the way he's thinking, but the big difference is that piracy is in a moral grey area while ad blocking isn't.
Blocking ads can never be wrong simply because my eyes and ears - my choice.

I wonder if closing your eyes whenever ads are playing also would count as piracy to this guy.

I recall a far more ridiculous comparison in an article written by some Karen in Big Media. She considered watching georestricted content on Netflix with a VPN to be piracy and THEFT.

 

[Very_sad_man]

I recall a far more ridiculous comparison in an article written by some Karen in Big Media. She considered watching georestricted content on Netflix with a VPN to be piracy and THEFT.

This is even more infuriating for people from places like eastern europe and similar shitholes. Big companies advertise their shit to global audience to make as much money as humanly possible. And it's not only advertising – you can read people talking about it on social media, watch youtube videos or read articles, but you cannot legaly watch it, because this service is not available in your region – and it will not be for another three years.

I don't care, I'm not consoomer and I don't have time to binge watch some random netflix show every week. But when I manage to find some time to hang out with friend it's infuriating to find out that the film you wanted to watch was made unavailable because some retarded licensing shit. When i paid for the service it was available so when I use VPN i just want to get what i paid for.

There was a guy who ran a small cofee stand (modded minivan) in my city and he wasn't charging any money for it. You could take the cofee for free or give him as much money as you saw fit. Because coffee was good and he was a nice person I always gave him more money then the service was probably worth. And I was not the only one – people will pay you willingly if you don't runs your business as total cancer. Same with ads – there are funny and creative ads that don't make you want to blow your head off.

 

[Pee Cola]

Is this the beginning of the lolcow arc of Linus? He seems to be throwing quite the hissy fit over adblockers on social media.

Nah, it's been building up for a while and he's well and truly a lolcow now. It's just a matter of time before someone writes an OP. I'd write one myself, but my last lolcow OP almost killed me due to the amount of crap I had to wade through to put it together.

If he really wants to see what his content is worth, just make all the videos members only and charge them a monthly fee.

Maybe Floatplane hasn't attracted enough regular paypigs for him?

I'm all for people making money but sponsorships especially the really obnoxious ones you'd see everywhere like Raid, VPN, or that phone case one just take the piss and have become a joke.

I actually don't mind sitting through ads if the creator is kind enough to either put them at the end of the video, or at least timestamp it so I can choose whether or not to watch.

Heck, I'm even OK with ads that integrate seamlessly with the content, such as a video where someone has build a brand new peripheral for an old computer and used PCBWay to make PCBs for them. I mention PCBWay as an example because they usually only advertise on relevant videos, and often the creator will link to the Gerber files of what they're showing in the video.

Every single heavy mobile user I've personally talked to is living in ad hell and liking it, they are the perfect target. If you can't install it in a single click, they're not gonna bother. Youtube Vanced has a two step install with a microG package as well, better give up and suck marketer cock instead.

This is why I always check to see if my next potential smartphone has good custom ROM support, as well as checking how easy it is to root and/or install Magisk (unless YouTube Vanced has become a little easier to install in the last 3 years since I bought my last phone). Sure it can involve losing an entire day with a lot of frustration thrown in for good measure, but the end result is well worth the short term pain.

Not really much bipoc representation, I'm disappointed. Is Linus a closet racist who refuses to hire African Americans? I think it might be the case!

He should hire that dude from The Verge.

There was a guy who ran a small cofee stand (modded minivan) in my city and he wasn't charging any money for it. You could take the cofee for free or give him as much money as you saw fit. Because coffee was good and he was a nice person I always gave him more money then the service was probably worth. And I was not the only one – people will pay you willingly if you don't runs your business as total cancer.

Someone earlier ITT made the point that YouTube video creation is the online equivalent of busking. That's why things like Patreon and Ko-fi exist, and why there are a handful of creators I'm happy to pay for their content. I still block the ads on their videos and don't feel any guilt, as I know the dollar or five a month they get from me is an order of magnitude greater than what YT would pay them if I watched their ads.

I wouldn't be surprised if that coffee guy makes as much (or maybe even more) through his "pay what you like/pay what you can" model than he would running a conventional coffee stand.

 

[Wesley Willis]

Not using adblock is like paying for porn.

 

[Dick Justice]

9 pages and counting of responses to an obvious bait thread. we've let each other down, kiwis

 

[Pee Cola]

9 pages and counting of responses to an obvious bait thread. we've let each other down, kiwis

I swear this thread is only here because nobody can be arsed making a proper PG OP for Linus.

 

[quaawaa]

This is what Linus' adblock piracy shirt (Archive) looks like:

Of course, he dressed up in a half dozen pirate costumes to show it off:

Announcement Tweet (Archive)

Spoiler: Reviews

Spoiler: Also, Luke is FAT

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

I can see the way he's thinking, but the big difference is that piracy is in a moral grey area while ad blocking isn't.
Blocking ads can never be wrong simply because my eyes and ears - my choice.

I wonder if closing your eyes whenever ads are playing also would count as piracy to this guy.

I recall a far more ridiculous comparison in an article written by some Karen in Big Media. She considered watching georestricted content on Netflix with a VPN to be piracy and THEFT.

Would she consider putting an Action Replay into a Saturn to be theft because it gets around region locking? Oh no. Someone isn't paying a million dollars for a 20 year old American copy of Panzer Dragoon. This filthy pirate bought a Japanese copy and popped a theft cartridge into the theft slot.

 

[Aidan]

Linus is clearly seething from being called the retard he is yet due to his dumb reddit fans he will profit off of this in the end so I can't fault him there.