Karlsruhe/Frankfurt — On Thursday, Germany’s supreme court threw out a case brought by Axel Springer seeking to ban a popular application that blocks online advertising, in a landmark ruling that deals a blow to the publishing industry. The court found in favour of Adblock Plus, an app marketed by a firm called Eyeo that has been downloaded more than 100-million times by users around the world seeking protection from unwanted or intrusive online advertising. "We are excited that Germany’s highest court upheld the right every internet citizen possesses to block unwanted advertising online," Adblock Plus said after the verdict. Springer and other media firms — including ProSiebenSat.1 Media, RTL, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel Online — had brought separate cases against Adblock Plus. It was the first to reach the supreme court. The publisher of Bild and Business Insider argued that blocking online adverts violated competition law — as did charging companies to be added to a "whi...
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