Webmasters say:

I offer a service. I don’t sell a product. The only way I can get compensated for it is by advertising.

that is a view I have to agree to. It may be a cultural thing but I really can't see how blocking the source of revenue of the webmasters can be considered to be ethical.

I've recently become interested in ways to detect ad filtering and prevent users from accessing resource intensive services based on that. I am a webmaster meself. And I don't use adblock/adblockplus when browsing. I do use it for debugging though.

I have a website that offers 'free' downloads. Well 'free' because the user doesn't have to fork out any actual cash. But the bandwidth consumed is paid for by ads. For that reason I have most of the advertisement, including a popunder concentrated in the download section. I make a point of warning visitors that there will be ads displayed to them, what type, how many, etc. And also telling them why the ads are here and why they should allow them to load and the possible risks and to disable third party cookies just in case.

Users say:

I pay for my internet access, it’s my computer, I should be able to decide what uses my bandwidth and gets displayed on my computer. I don’t want to see ads.

yes. You should be able to decide what uses your bandwidth and gets displayed on your computer. But. That content still comes from my server. So I should be able to decided what get sent to your computer from my server. Well ok. Some of the ads are from third parties. But it's still included on a page generated on my server which is paid for by money generated by those same ads.

Ads have become horribly annoying. They flash, move, jitter, pop up, pop under. I can’t focus on the actual content that i’m reading.

while I agree that excessive advertising is extremely annoying. But getting distracted by shiny objects is a bit weak an argument. How distracting can an ad possibly be....? If you are completely hypnotised by moving objects I say you probably have a pathological condition...

You see an ad displayed a few times, you may find it amusing or not, but after a while you should naturally get used to it and ignore it. People had already developed mental blocks against google ads long before anything like adblock was around. I really can't see what's so troublesome with banner ads. I don't use adblock/plus or any ad filter and the current day internet does not distract me unduly.

Except some ads are actually quite good. Beautiful even. I mean, you have to salute their creativity.

the internet should be free!

Go hug a tree, you damn hippie! The internet has changed. It is a business and a serious one. About 2 decades ago, if you worked with computers, a lot of people would tell you to get a real job. But nowadays, we are actually trained and formed to work in internet related businesses. This is a real job.

I'd say above that the adblocking is a cultural thing. I think the people who use ad filters don't think very far ahead. At least not beyond their personal benefit. The internet is not free. You pay for your bandwidth. And the internet advertising model allows you trade some of that bandwidth for 'free' or shall we say 'very very low cost' services. It is a fair exchange.

Agreed there's a lot of crap and abuse out there. But don't you think it's about time you woke up and smelled the shit? (It's a pun, don't quote this) there are dangerous places and dangerous things on the web. It's one thing to browse intelligently and another to shoot at anything that moves (pre-emptive strike no jitsu!) on the presumption that it may be slightly dangerous.

You can't compare ads in webpages to ads on tv or in newspapers either (an excuse oft used by adblock fanboys). Well actually you can. When you walk away from your television when the ads are showing, that does not mean you're removing them from the airwaves. They are still there. The tv stations still get their money. Same for magazines, you don't cut out the ads from the pages. If you did, you'd miss out on a lot.
(I use display advertising btw. Awesome concept. You don't even have to click.. much...)

I don't know how much sense I'm making. But yeah... Adblocking is just not polite from my perspective.