[jay_kyburz]

Because it's monetizing other peoples content. In my view, it's the same as cutting and pasting somebody else's content onto my own site with my own ads.

Even if I promise to give most of the money I make back to the original content creator, I really have no right to the small part I skim.

Update: Sorry didn't mean to suggest it was unethical for you to view a page any way you want, but I think the creators of the Brave browsers are scuzzy.

Update Two: I see now that Brave have updated the policy and will only collect funds for creators that have opted in.

[pault]

Also, as others have pointed out in this thread, they don't replace ads on websites with their own. It blocks ads, and if you want you can view Brave ads in exchange for their cryptocurrency and optionally donate them to participating publishers. I'd say this is no worse than a regular ad blocker, but you at least have the choice to attempt to remunerate the publisher for the lost revenue.

[BrendanEich]

That's right -- user first. Users will do right by their favorite publishers.