IP legalities notwithstanding, the moral defense in my mind is when creators don't have any mechanism for a direct revenue stream. It's one thing to not pay and

IP legalities notwithstanding, the moral defense in my mind is when creators don't have any mechanism for a direct revenue stream. It's one thing to not pay and skip ads; but if ads are the only way to support the creator, I hate being forced to "pay" with time (and poisoning my brain with faux-enthused marketing copy). In some cases, creators have a Patreon/etc, but supporters are still forced to see the same ads as everyone else. In my mind, ad blocking tools should be using a revenue-sharing model (in the range of 90/10), that gives creators with an existing ad-supported model a low-effort secondary income stream. Even if entirely voluntary/opt-in, it seems like a win-win. Also worth noting: one of the most successful podcasters/YouTubers, Joe Rogan, has a unique ad model: sponsor reads are front-loaded and designed to be easy to skip, with a short sponsor recap at the end. Perhaps that only works when you have millions of followers, but it demonstrates that sponsors aren't necessarily turned off by some percentage of listeners/viewers skipping ads.