So now Brussels wants to join forces with Facebook, Google and alike, in order to also extract value from our personal preferences.

Sir, Mehreen Khan, Alex Barker and Rochelle Toplensky report that “Brussels is thinking about a “levy, which is likely to be set at a rate of 3 per cent… raised against advertising revenues generated by digital companies such as Google…fees raised from users and subscribers to services such as Apple or Spotify, and income made from selling personal data to third parties… it will raise about €5bn a year.” “Brussels proposes levy on Big Tech digital revenues” March 16.

For years I have argued that we users should have right to charge something for our preferences disclosed on the web, not only because that could yield a partial funding of a Universal Basic Income scheme, but, even more importantly, because that would help to limit the bothering and the waste of our limited attention span.

But seemingly Brussels wants to hear nothing about that, they as self appointed redistribution profiteers, want in on that revenue stream.

It is just like if governments, instead of helping to rid ourselves of the fastidious robocalls selling us all kind of products and services, would now share the incentives to push those calls even more.

Sir, though I do not live in Britain, or in Europe for that sake, I was pretty sure I would not vote for a Brexit… but every day that passes, and I read about things like this, the less sure I am of that.

@PerKurowski

Should a sanctioned bank like Wells Fargo be allowed to immediately advertise itself as a do-gooder?

Sir, with respect to the recently sanctioned Wells Fargo we can observe that, in order to clean its name, it has now launched, as is typical in similar circumstances, advertising campaigns highlighting its social responsibilities. Should it really be allowed to do so?

Even though Wells Fargo should of course try to do its utmost to compensate their recent bad behavior, I believe it should not be able to advertise itself out of a bad image, for at least two years. A prohibition of that sort would also serve as a great deterrent to others.

And, while being on the subject of modernizing sentences, as a Venezuelan I ask, could the sanctions of those that commit crimes against humanity but have not yet been captured include blocking their presence in social media forever, and perhaps also that of all their immediate families for at least some years?

Of course those criminals could use false names, but who would like to take a (face-recognizable) selfie doing so?

@PerKurowski

What about 15% of ad revenues to the content provider and the mobile operator, each one, and 70% to me?

Sir, Jonathan Ford seems to agree with “mobile operators… offering customers control over how they use their data allowance online” but is a bit suspicious of their intentions since operators also “want content providers to hand over more of their revenues from advertising”, “Mobile ad-blocking risks becoming a barrier to innovation” May 18.

There is no question that there is a lot of fighting about the value to access us consumers, and if we do not find efficient ways to block ads, we will drown in these, and de facto become incommunicado.

We users, we must fight back for our rights.

If I am going to use my limited attention span, and my data allowances, to look at ads that are directed to me only because my own preferences and lifestyle is known as a result of being on social media or otherwise surfing the web… then it is really I who should be paid.

And I would gladly pay the content providers, for providing advertisers the information they need about me, and the operators a commission for providing me a collection service. How about a generous 15 percent to each one of them? And 70 percent to me :-)​

@PerKurowski

Do I own a copyright of myself? If so, should I not get a cut of what’s paid when advertising is tailored to me?

Sir, I refer to your editorial on the upcoming law in Spain that indicates that “all online news aggregators will be required to pay Spanish publishers a fee for contents that they link to”, “Spain’s flawed challenge to the mighty Goggle” December 12.

I mostly agree with what you write, but I do have some question on other two related issues:

First, if online news aggregators have to pay, why do not newspapers also have to do that, for instance when they review a book… and when that review can even lead to the book not being read, much less bought?

Second, cannot it be said that I own a copyright of myself? If so, why should I not get a cut of what’s paid to Google for someone to be able to tailor his advertising to me? And also, when somebody searches me, should not Goggle collect a fee and split it 50-50 with me?

PS. By the way, if all advertising I receive is tailored to me, does that not go against my human right to be able to become someone different… perhaps even someone better… or as a minimum at least someone with a better taste?

PS. Should not Google and other public private eyes also search our permission before searching us for other to us unknown parties?

The “who gets tagged last by an ad” game

Sir, Matthew Garrahan gives a lovely description on how 5-Hour energy advertising has captured the imagination of his five year old son… but also how the possibilities of advertising seem to diminish with current technological advances, “A five-year old Don Draper speaks”, August 30. 

Mr. Garrahan might hope for that, but, in just few years, he will be able to play "who gets tag last by an ad" with his son. That game consists in each one of the players sending out simultaneously an email commenting to a friend about an esoteric product of his choice… and, as the name indicates, the one whose inbox is last to get tagged by an ad offering the mentioned product, wins. 

For your info, among true professionals, this game is played with all anti-spam-filters off.

On unwelcome advertising

Sir John Gapper in "Advertisers will see you read this", August 14, describes very well how the advertisers wish to obtain more and better information on our habits and how this could intrude on our rights to privacy.

That said let us also not forget there are occasions when it is the website or the user who wishes to be identified better so as to avoid the messages or the publicity they do not want to see.

In Venezuela, a radical anti-U.S. website, but that still wish to generate some advertising income, because of its name revolves around "sovereignty", frequently attracts recruitment ads for the U.S. Marines. I supposed this must be of extreme nuisance to the owner of the site.

The champions of gluttony

Sir I read Jamie Whyte’s “Spread the word about the benefits of advertising”, June 27, and since I presume that he is in the advertising industry, and though he references himself to be the author of a “Guide to Clear Thinking” I conclude that he must be even more confused than what I normally am, when he basically washes his hands and places the full burden for responsible behaviour squarely on his own clients shoulders, for instance in the case of the increased consumption of junk food.

He is also exquisitely politically incorrect when he argues the defence of his industry in such terms as motivating you to drink more in order to save you from the risk of not knowing the fun of being drunk although in this as a “desire for more” inspirer he has a clear point, since we should ask ourselves what would happen to our economies if our regulators convinced us all that we have had enough, of everything.