Last updated on August 29th, 2018 at 04:00 am
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Brave Browser
Brave hopes to build a better internet advertising ecosystem that will favour both users and publishers. About a group of 17 publishers are demanding that the new web browser company cease and desist from its intended agenda.
Brave, had up 5million downloads from Google Play Store after launching it’s iOS, Android, OS X, Linux and Windows applications. It exists as something between ad blocker and ad server. In its current form, it works as an ad/cookie blocker. It is designed to soon replace existing online ads with those it considers “safe” (i.e. those that don’t track users with unique identifiers and have been screened for malware). And also faster loading to improve the browsing experience.
The company plans to compensate publishers for part of the revenues generated on their website. These are revenues that would have otherwise been lost had the user employed any of the other ad blockers currently available on the market.
Moreover, an open letter was addressed to Brave CEO Brendan Eich. It was signed by 17 of America’s biggest publisher. They called the company’s approach “blatantly illegal.”
“You are hereby notified that Brave’s plan to replace our clients’ paid advertising content with its own advertising violates the law, and the undersigned publishers intend to fully enforce their rights,”
reads the open letter published in full on Business Insider.
The group included Dow Jones, Gannet, The New York Times Company, McClatchkey and The Washington Post, and others. They belong to the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). They represent 1,200 newspaper companies in the U.S. Together, they have claimed damages of up to $150,000 per work.
“Brave’s use of publishers’ trademarks to sell its own advertising will confuse consumers, infringe upon publishers’ exclusive rights in their brands and dilute our highly distinctive marks,” the publishers said.
“We stand ready to enforce all legal rights to protect our trademarks and copyrighted content and to prevent you from deceiving consumers and unlawfully appropriating our work in the service of your business. Unauthorized republication of our copyrighted content to support Brave’s illegal advertising model violates protected rights of publishers under the Copyright Act and other laws.”
Brave made it clear that its system would see publishers claiming 55% of the ad revenue that results from users visiting their websites. The money will be in an online wallet called Uphold which Brave uses to payout to it’s clients what they have earned. While Brave collects 15% , it distributes another 15% to its ad partners.
