Ad-skipping technology does not violate copyright law.

Just this week, the Ninth Circuit decided that "ad-skipping" technology allowing people to completely bypass commercials and advertisements does not violate copyright law. The ruling pertains to recent DVR technology that allows viewers to automatically bypass a commercial break without any human intervention (i.e., without having to press fast-forward on a remote control).

Basically, the rationale is that ad-skipping technology is a fair use, because it does not make any copies of a copyrighted work. Additionally, nothing forces viewers to pay attention to commercials anyway, and viewers have long had the ability to skip commercials manually, by fast-forwarding.