Would an "ad-free" internet be worth paying for?

[gunug]

QUOTE

An ad-free internet would cost each user at least £140 a year – a sum that the vast majority of UK web users
say they would never pay, according to new research.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news...d-free-web.html

That's apparently $230 for those of us on the west side of the Atlantic!  Would it be worth to you it to pay an internet tax to get
rid of ads?

[Xairbusdriver]

Framing the question as a tax is counter productive. In my opinion, the problem is access to the net. In many countries, that is 'provided' by a corporate monopoly with no intention of killing a golden goose.

[gunug]

I'm not living in the third world (although parts of Larryville are a little close to that) but I become very aggravated with advertisements.  The biggest problem I have daily is with a "very" strident ad for a tablet from the cable television we also use as an internet provider at work.  It includes video and all that I can do is mute it and so far not block it.  It's appearing on a number of news and other websites (so far not on TS).  

[Xairbusdriver]

Have you tried AdBlock+, Ghostery, etc.? Assuming you can even install these kinds of things on the public property... Of course, there are Flash blockers, also. My favorite is Glimmerblocker, a System Pref.

While those and other ads can be very frustrating, I just think "ad-free" is too close to the only barely defeated SOPA and PIPA bills that were defeated last year. It would establish a minimum fee for accessing the web. We may not live in a third-world country, but the web still has the basic idea of it being a "World Wide" asset.

While I would support changing how the Internet is regulated (from basically none right now!), I don't think setting a fee mainly to block ads is appropriate. With that method, the people/corporations are still being paid but the control is still not in the hands of the users. There is, at least, a 'mute' button on most remotes!

I think the question is becoming; do we want the web to become another commercial "Media" or remain/return to a massively available, 'people-owned' commodity and source of information. I gotta go back into into my "ivory tower"... You raise an interesting question, of course! Could there be a similar but lower fee covering only animation ads...