Adblock has been able to fly under the radar because it is used by people who sought out a way to block ads, a minority of internet users.
MegaKey replaces ads (something that is more likely to piss off advertisers more than removing ads) as the 'cost' of downloading free music, something many consumers are interested in.
Why would this be a legal issue at all? Can't I do what I want to the software on my own machine and with my own network connection, so long as I abide by the software license terms and the contract with my ISP?
Certainly I can't be compelled to accept whatever unwanted packets someone throws at me just because that someone based their business model on the practice, right?
> Can't I do what I want to the software on my own machine...
Yes you can, but we're going to have to fight hard to keep this right. Microsoft's Win7 EULA tried wrest control of your PC; Apple fully control what goes onto your Iphone; and although Android is currently still open, Google's intentions are telegraphed by it's lock down of the ChromeKey.
The same thing is happening to internet access. Legislation is forcing ISPs to control your packets in at least some countries, and unless we fight this it will become more and more pervasive.
Putting aside the legal issue, what about the technical issue? If this becomes at all popular then websites will just start redirecting visitors using it to a page that provides no content other than instructions on how to uninstall it.
Perhaps using techniques similar to how sites can tell when AdBlock is used. For example, checking for the existence and sizing of a given element and ID.
If such detection becomes commonplace, there will be escalation. Adblocker/replacer software will go the next step of downloading the ads, but then handing over appropriately sized transparent .pngs to the browser. Ultimately it is a fight the advertisers can't win as long as users have full control over their own computers.
I welcome it. The current ad-based economic system is a "stalker economy" that carries an enormous hidden cost that all of society ends up bearing (loss of privacy leads to losses of creativity and stagnation of political reform). The sooner we get the ad middle-men out of the loop, the sooner we can start building services with customers who are people, not corporate advertising budgets.
But what would be a reasonable revenue model?
I don't want to buy a subscription to every website someone posts a link to on HN, just so that I can read it.
There isn't a single model that will fit all cases. But for your specific example, micropayments.
Advertising has kind of starved out the development of micropayment systems over the last decade, but it looks like bitcoin has a chance at filling that niche.
Adblock has been able to fly under the radar because it is used by people who sought out a way to block ads, a minority of internet users.
MegaKey replaces ads (something that is more likely to piss off advertisers more than removing ads) as the 'cost' of downloading free music, something many consumers are interested in.