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Comment by Aurornis | Hacker News Reader

It is strange to hear these threats about avoiding websites from people who are not subscribers and also definitely using an ad blocker.

News sites aren’t publishing their content for the warm fuzzy feeling of seeing their visitor count go up. They’re running businesses. If you’re dead set on not paying and not seeing ads, it’s actually better for them that you don’t visit the site at all.

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'Running a business' is not carte blanche to do whatever you like to get money, and it does not silence valid criticism. Businesses still exist in society and have to act accordingly. A primary mechanism that society has to enforce rules is criticism and shame.

Have you ever entertained that maybe consumers should act accordingly too?

That website is loaded with too many ads, I left it and am not going back.

Not

That website has too many ads, I'm getting an ad blocker and going back.

A business is not entitled to make people look at their ads. If they offer something in a publicly accessible place and they get ad eyeballs, good for them. If they don't, sucks for them. If they don't like it there are plenty of other markets they can do business in.

You're not entitled to any webpage except your own...

If they want to charge users with ad-blockers under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for unauthorized access for viewing non-protected pages then they should do that. Otherwise, you are wrong.

That’s confusing a webpage that’s rendered by the user with a pdf

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