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Why It’s OK to Block Ads (2015)

blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk

151–154 of 154 posts

Re: Why It’s OK to Block Ads (2015)

#151
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're actually serious? Advertising is designed to make you feel shit (inadequate) and does it so effectively people kill themselves with anorexia over it to cite but one example. It's like a prostitute saying their pimp doesn't /really/ hurt them when they get a beating. Your other option is not to just "not go to _the_ website" because you have no choice other than to unplug and live in a cave. Defending yourself…

I'm struggling to discern any genuine points from your bombastic writing. Have a great day.

That's ok, it can be hard sometimes for all of us. You too!

Re: Why It’s OK to Block Ads (2015)

#152

I feel like any argument that starts with the idea that blocking ads is unethical would inevitably lead to that black mirror episode where the ad pauses if you close your eyes or look away, and you must pay to skip it. Closing your eyes is just another ad blocking measure, and the idea that that would be unethical ought to be utterly preposterous.

Somewhere amid all the layers of abstraction people have forgotten that a browser is running code on my machine. And the implication that I have a moral obligation to run whatever arbitrary code you want to throw my way in exactly the way you specify is absurd. It's not even like being mad at someone for paging past an ad in a magazine. It's like being mad at someone for driving their car along a route that doesn't have billboards on it.

Re: Why It’s OK to Block Ads (2015)

#153
There are many contrived examples here about closing eyes and refusing to eat lettuce, but why not take one directly from software? Let's say I publish code on the internet and put praise to my coding skills in the comments. A publisher publishes an article with ads. You read the article with ads removed, and take my code to use in your closed-source commercial product, ripping out the comments. So far so good.

Now let's say instead I publish my code under GPL. And the publisher puts a big disclaimer on the website that you must turn off ad-blocker to view content.

Is it still ethical to block ads and ignore the disclaimer? Note I'm saying "ethical", not "legal". How is that any different from ignoring the LICENSE file and profiting from the GPL code in a closed-source commercial product? Mental gymnastics about what is "really a contract" aside.

To be sure, I block ads, but like other such things, e.g. speeding, I recognize it's a moral compromise I make with myself.

Re: Why It’s OK to Block Ads (2015)

#154
post #51

I find the idea that anyone, a single person, could consider blocking ads to be wrong to be hilarious. I've never met such a person. I can only imagine them to be barely human. What other bizarre opinions, internal or external, would they have? I don't think that I could trust them with literally anything.

I think running an ad blocker is freeloading, the same as using paywall-bypassing software. There are worse things people regularly do, but I do think it's minorly wrong and I don't run an ad blocker. I would be fine with ad blockers that only blocked ads, as long as publishers could chose to refuse service to users running ad blockers or ask them to turn their ad blocker off. But uBlock Origin etc don't just block a…

First off, some of your comments have referred to ad-blocking being wrong due to conflict with existing business models.

Businesses are not entitled to the success of their business models. If a business model fails due to consumer behavior, the business was in the wrong for expecting different behavior.

> I would be fine with ad blockers that only blocked ads, as long as publishers could chose to refuse service to users running ad blockers or ask them to turn their ad blocker off.

Distracting content (most ads), color schemes with bad contrast, bright images on dark pages, etc. are accessibility hazards (particularly cognitive accessibility hazards). Restricting the use of page-alteration software (e.g. color and font alteration, disabling images, and blocking frames) is therefore a discriminatory practice.

In a sibling subthread:

> The part of your analogy where you say people who want burgers don't have any other choice seems not to fit: you can eat other foods which don't have this requirement, just like there are lots of places on the internet where you can exchange money for ad-free content.

The default behavior on the Web is one in which user-agents set their terms, and websites must agree to them: https://seirdy.one/notes/2022/08/12/user-agents-set-the-term...

The libertarian perspective is a two-way street. Nobody is forcing a person to publish content on the Web. If the "comply with the user's wishes" model of the Web is problematic to a content creator, they don't need to participate in the Web.

POSSE (Publish on Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere) note from https://seirdy.one/notes/2022/09/10/in-defense-of-content-bl...

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