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
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    131
    ·
    edit-2
    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
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      159
      ·
      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
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      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
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        38
        ·
        1 year ago

        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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      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
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

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

      • dust_accelerator@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        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.