And since you won’t be able to modify web pages, it will also mean the end of customization, either for looks (ie. DarkReader, Stylus), conveniance (ie. Tampermonkey) or accessibility.

The community feedback is… interesting to say the least.

    • BlackEco@lemmy.blackeco.comOP
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      1 year ago

      Well, the engineers say it themselves: nothing would prevent websites developers to prevent access from browsers that do not support this “Web DRM”.

      My biggest fear though is that it becomes a standard which all browsers will have to support to stay relevant. And with Google building the engine used by the vast majority of browsers, they can force this upon other browser engines (ie. Safari and Firefox).

      • sab@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        It’s such a potent example why everyone who cares need to stop using Chromium based browsers before it’s too late. Stunts like this would be much harder to pull if there wasn’t a de facto browser monopoly.

        • Zink@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          For what it’s worth, this comment just inspired me to switch my work PC from edge to Firefox. Was already using it in Linux, and will switch my home PC tonight.

      • WarmSoda@lemm.ee
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        All they need is a few major sites and tools requiring it to domino everything on the internet. Suddenly it’s standard.

        Most businesses all use either chrome or Microsoft. And they’re both Chromium.

        • The Cuuuuube@beehaw.org
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          Literally just applying it to YouTube would send tremors throughout the internet. If YouTube stopped working in Safari or Firefox, anyone using those browsers who don’t really care and just liked those browsers for other reasons will give them up and go to a chromium based browser.

          Google is fighting an apathy battle. One they know they can probably win because they own the Internet’s favorite content hub

      • nivenkos@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Reminds me of Microsoft with the ActivePlatform / Blackbird stuff in the 90s.

        Awful to see Google turn into that.

      • brombek@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Google will just say that pages with DRM will rank higher in their search and it’s all done.

        • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          It’s time to fork the community internet off the corporate one. Set up our own DRM-free sites and our own search engines, run by open source software. With blackjack and hookers.

      • Spedwell@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Sites that rely on ad revenue would have every business reason to switch to WebDRM-only.

        • dust_accelerator@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          Everyone talks about this like it wouldn’t open a massive attack surface for the mother of DDOS.

          Make the attestor slow or take it out, you take down large parts of their business. I don’t know, i wouldn’t put too much stake in a platform/website that could be taken out so completely.

    • fistac0rpse@kbin.social
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      I have exceeding low expectations, but I would hope that would be grounds for an antitrust lawsuit against Google as Chromium browsers account for roughly 70% of all users (based on numbers I pulled from Wikipedia)

      • whatsarefoogee@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Antitrust lawsuit? What’s that?

        When is the last time any of the big tech companies got hit with antitrust? Microsoft is brazenly doing shit on windows they wouldn’t even dream of in early 2000s. Resetting user defaults to their products. Constantly advertising their products when user launches a competitors software.

        They don’t give a fuck and neither do the governments.