3 proposed principles for online content blocking
Content blocking is a hot topic after Apple’s iOS joined the desktop market by making it possible to develop iOS applications to block advertisements.
Denelle Dixon-Thayer, chief legal and business officer at Mozilla Corporation, said that content blocking is not going away – it is now part of everyone’s online experience.
“Users want it – whether to avoid the display of ads, protect against unwanted tracking, improve load speed, or reduce data consumption,” said Dixon-Thayer.
She said they needed to address how the industry should respond, and Mozilla wanted to start by proposing principles for content blocking.
“To help guide our efforts and hopefully inform others, we’ve developed three proposed content blocking principles.”
- Content Neutrality: Content blocking software should focus on addressing potential user needs (such as on performance, security, and privacy) instead of blocking specific types of content (such as advertising).
- Transparency and Control: The content blocking software should provide users with transparency and meaningful controls over the needs it is attempting to address.
- Openness: Blocking should maintain a level playing field and should block under the same principles regardless of source of the content. Publishers and other content providers should be given ways to participate in an open Web ecosystem, instead of being placed in a permanent penalty box that closes off the Web to their products and services.
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