> I was just responding to OP's claim that since the protocol doesn't specify

I know. The examples were still factually incorrect straw-men.

> it must be legal and ethical to block them

That's the point; it is legal and ethical to use data that was voluntarily given. If you want control over how things are used, stop sending to everybody freely and require a contract.

> harass those who spend money on them.

Clicking a link isn't harassment.

>Clicking a link isn't harassment.

You are making people lose money (not the malware adnetworks, not the trackers, but the guy buying advertisement) to prove a point to the ad-network (which is actually making money off this), I consider it close to harassment.

No, the advertisers are choosing not to pay the content creators. By blocking or using auto clickers the users are only choosing to not reveal the personal information that is sold by the content creator to the advertisers(even if the content creators don't get to see it, or cant make use of it). On tv and in movies the prestige was what advertisers where getting from ads, they would pay to have the ads carried on the same networks as great content. They wouldn't stop me from talking over an ad or closing my eyes while one was on, and I wasn't "stealing" by doing so. My part of that system was buying the cable package or the movie ticket, funding the general delivery system. Whats happened now is that content creators have taken a bad deal and started selling our personal information rather then the actual prestige of being next to their content. This is perfect for advertisers as it then sets the fight up to be between content creators and their audience, when it should be content creators and their audience working for a better deal.

No, when you artificially click on a link, the original website pays the hosting website a bit and Google a bit.

So now when you run this program, the two entities you're most against (Google for not having safe-ads) and the content website (for not working for free) are actually getting payed!

If you want to hurt Google, just block ads.

But but but! The entity that had created / placed the ad loses money! That's good, because it raises the costs for them, incentivizing rethinking of the marketing strategy. It also, over time, makes the hosting website get less money, as the quality of clicks is worse.

> lose money

Yes, that is one of the intended goals.

> not the trackers, but the guy buying advertisement

Targeting the source of funding is often an effective strategy.

> {,malware} ad-network

> trackers

> guy buying advertisement

All of these are responsible, so they are all intended targets.

> I consider it close to harassment

If following a website's href suggestion to load a URL is "harassment", then advertising is also harassment.