Dear Apple: I may rob your store
fortune.com
fortune.com
Really.
Blocking ads isn't theft. I don't mean that there is certainly no ethical problems with it, but it isn't theft.
And, I'm fairly confident that there are more ethical problems in preventing people from doing it, than in people doing it.
If you send me a webpage, and I have not agreed to a contract that you would reasonably expect me to really understand, generally I think I have the right to do almost whatever I want with it (locally, anyway).
I'm not even saying this as someone who blocks ads. I don't, other than flash ads (because I block all flash embeds, not specifically ads)
Some say that if a business can't remain in business while paying its employees a living wage, then the company ought to fail.
I say, if your business can't succeed without embedding audio ads that start playing 2 mins after I've switched tabs (with nothing on the page to show where it is coming from), and me allowing those to play, then your business also ought to fail.
My computer is my property, and I will have it display for me what you send me in whatever format I choose.
If you don't want people to receive your content without justification, then don't send them your content without compensation.
and, again, I would like to emphasize that I do not run any ad blockers. I am not saying this to justify my actions.
I am saying this because I think my freedom is important.