Kalashnikover_Rebbe at hashkafah.com asks:
Isn't blocking ads stealing??? The people put them on the sites for a reason....
He elaborates:
On one hand the argument can be made that [forum XYZ] is PUBLICLY broadcast and distributed and what YOU do with it once it hits your PC is your own business.
But an argument can be made that the service is provided on the implicit TANAI that you at least VIEW the ads, as well as the more general and abstract concern that if everyone started blocking ads, advertisers would stop paying to place them and it would be bad for everyone because so many sites are kept alive by ad revenue.... The fact that it's smut though, is irrelevant. No one forces you to come to view and participate in [forum XYZ] to begin with and if that is how the site administration chooses to raise funds, it is THEIR choice, you can take it or leave it...
The real question is CAN they make such a tanai???
So — is ad-blocker software permissible? Please cite your sources as best as you can remember.
(Note to readers: But, in the end, ask your rabbi.)
[Edit: Another interesting point: The big ad networks have been used as vectors to spread malicious software on quite a few occasions.]
Answer
I asked my local Orthodox rabbi. (FYI: he's Chareidi.) He said that ad-blocking software is permissible to use. He added that even if it's hard for webmasters to detect and work around adblockers, that's no problem for me: some things in life are hard.
My rabbi said it was fine for me to post his ruling online. But he asked me not to mention his name here: he doesn't want angry web marketers complaining to him about the ruling. :)
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