????上周四，全美廣告主聯盟（The Association of National Advertisers）和美國廣告代理商協會（American Association of Advertising Agencies）發布了 “最佳操守聲明”，呼吁廣告客戶不要在盜版網站上發布廣告。這一聲明也得到了美國互動廣告局（Interactive Advertising Bureau）的支持。《廣告周刊》（Adweek）稱這項聲明是朝著打擊盜版邁出的“重要一步”。不過，實際效果可能有限。

????根據這一聲明，營銷人員應該在合同和插播廣告協議中明確闡明，不在那些傳播盜版音樂和視頻的“流氓”網站上投放廣告。對于從沒上過流氓網站的人們來說，這聽起來或許是個好主意——打到了流氓網站的痛處，掐住了它們的經濟命脈。但如果你曾經上過Pirate Bay或其他此類網站，你就知道“最佳操守”絕非是在此類網站上打廣告的公司首要考慮的問題。

????在Pirate Bay網站上，有一條廣告干脆就寫著“點擊這里，開始下載”。這是文件分享網站慣用的伎倆，刊登的廣告旨在欺騙那些更好騙（至少不那么有經驗）的用戶。在這種情況下，點擊鏈接，不會開始下載你要找的盜版電影：它會直接鏈接至一個可執行文件，在你的電腦上加載一款據稱能實現YouTube視頻下載的軟件。或者更糟，同樣這款軟件的另一條廣告就出現在搜索結果的旁邊，“下載這部電影”，非常典型。

????isoHunt網站上有一條廣告是“現在就下載”（Download Now）（顯然也是想糊弄網站用戶），點擊鏈接至一款據稱能比瀏覽器更好地管理下載的軟件產品。不過至少這還有點相關。

????在TorrentReactor網站上，頁面下方彈出一個廣告，一個自稱“just4play1968”的漂亮女孩打出一行字“嗨，朋友，想出來轉轉嗎？讓我們在奧克蘭碰頭吧。”我就住在奧克蘭，但我想just4play1968的這句話“讓我們在奧克蘭碰頭吧”是對奧克蘭的盜版下載者說的。這條廣告鏈接到AdultFriendFinders網站，吸引的是放蕩玩樂者——而不是本尼?古德曼（著名單簧管演奏家——譯注）或喬?費夫洛（美國史上最年輕的總統就職演講撰稿人——譯注）。

????繼續在TorrentReactor網站上搜索《星球大戰》（Star Wars），在搜索結果的中間有一條廣告“警告：你打算下載《星球大戰》嗎？”但這并非是真正警告你，你即將實施的行為是非法或錯誤的。廣告稱，下載盜版《星球大戰》“是危險行為，可能造成版權侵權”。廣告鏈接至一款“能讓你在比特流網路中保持匿名”的“特殊軟件”。

????全美廣告主聯盟的首席執行官鮑勃?萊歐迪斯在一項聲明中稱，廣告“無意中讓這種非法的商業模式變得正當化，會誤導消費者相信這些‘流氓’網站提供的是真正的產品，是遵紀守法的。”如果廣告來自寶潔（Proctor & Gamble）或豐田（Toyota），或許如此。但事實是刊登在此類網站上的廣告往往不能讓網站變得更加正當。截至發稿，萊歐迪斯和美國廣告代理商協會都沒有回復采訪申請。

????除了理念錯誤（認為市場能自行阻止盜版），起草“最佳操守”本身并無害處。但它不太可能切斷“最差操守”網站的廣告收入來源。

????譯者：老榆木

????Some ad-industry groups are warning against placing advertisements on pirate sites. The Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies released a "statement of best practices" on Thursday, which also has the support of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Adweek declared the statement to be a "major step" in the fight against piracy. But it seems unlikely to do much good.

????Marketers, according to the statement, should state in contracts and insertion orders that ads are not to be placed on "rogue" sites that traffic in pirated, copyrighted material such as music and video. To people who have never visited a pirate site, that might sound like a great idea -- a way to hit the pirates where it hurts: their wallets. But if you've ever visited Pirate Bay or other such sites, you'll know that "best practices" aren't at the top of the list of concerns for the outfits that advertise on them.

????On Pirate Bay, one ad simply reads "Click Here to Start Download." This is a common tactic on file-sharing sites, which often run ads designed to hoodwink their own more-gullible (or at least, less practiced) users. In this case, the link doesn't download the illicit movie you just searched for: it links straight to an executable file that loads software on your computer that the advertiser promises will enable downloads of YouTube videos. Even worse, another ad for the same software product, placed right next to the search results, simply says "Download This Movie." Classy.

????On isoHunt, an ad reading "Download Now" (again clearly aimed at fooling the site's own users) links to a software product that supposedly manages downloads better than browsers do. At least that one's sort of relevant.

????At TorrentReactor, a little pop-up ad at the bottom of the page displays a photo of a comely lass who goes by "just4play1968." It says: "Hey you, wanna hang out? Let's meet up in Oakland." I live in Oakland, but I assume that just4play1968 says "Let's meet up in Orlando" to illicit-download seekers who live there. The ad is for AdultFriendFinders, a site for swingers -- and not the Benny Goodman or even the Jon Favreau kind.

????On that same site, a search for Star Wars yields an ad placed in the middle of the search results. It reads: "Warning: Are you going to download Star Wars?" But this isn't an admonishment that what you're about to do is illegal or wrong. Downloading an illicit copy of Star Wars "can be dangerous and cause a copyright infringement notice," according to the ad. The product being advertised is a "special program" that "allows you to be anonymous in bit torrent networks."

????In a statement, Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers said ads can "lend inadvertent legitimacy to the illicit business models and can mislead consumers into believing that these 'rogue' websites are offering authentic products and complying with the law." That might be true if the ads were from of Proctor & Gamble (PG) or Toyota (TM). But the ads that tend to appear on such sites don't seem likely to lend legitimacy to anything. Neither Liodice nor the American Association of Advertising Agencies responded to a request for comment Friday morning.

????Instituting "best practices" can't hurt, except insofar as it creates the false idea that the marketplace can by itself deter piracy. But it's unlikely to stanch the flow of revenues to sites that employ the worst practices.