Google is ruining the entire web

Until Netflix decides you can only watch high resolution content via Chrome passing the DRM check.

Or your banking website does the same. Or YouTube. Or PayPal. And so on.

Though, honestly, nobody so far came up with any good explanations as to how this DRM scheme inside a browser would truly prevent adblocking and screen recording - my browser hasn't got higher privileges than my admin user account.

A few of us sitting and using Firefox while Google is suggesting being able to control what computer you use, what software is installed, what plugins you are allowed to have?

This is a very big threat not solved by using Firefox.

Because the browser choice has nothing to do with what Google is trying to achieve with the DRM thing.

Honestly, I've just switched from Brave to Firefox after trying it awhile ago and I can't even begin to say how much I hate it. Despite turning off settings to open new tabs, every website I open browsing on mobile opens a new tab, so before I know it I have 27 tabs open, the desktop version is clunky, I had to adjust a ton of settings to stop it from downloading in the background every file I just wanted to view or print, and it won't even let me print or save as pdf a lot of things, so I have to open Chrome or Brave to do that stuff anyway. I feel like grandma trying to learn to text using it, but for now I'm going to press on because the ad blocking works better than Brave and I like some of the extra features and plugins.

Your open source browser can run a spoof of an “official” browser

Not if the server requires the digital signature of a challenge to be produced by a key whose certificate is signed by a "trusted" third party, said third party only providing that key at runtime, if your browser can also provide the same kind of authorization from the OS, itself being only able to produce it if it can safely determine that it's running on completely locked-down hardware AND having online-activated DRM tells him he can provide such key; the hardware itself requiring constant online connexion to ensure it's "authorized", and including yet another layer of keys in hardware.

There's been progress toward this kind of things. At every step, people warning about the risks are seen as lunatics. SecureBoot preventing booting a custom kernel? No problem, microsoft will sign your keys. TPM not delivering keys to non-trusted kernels? No problem, just don't use it (and don't get the keys, obviously). UEFI requiring digital signature to be flashed? It's for your safety, but we won't give you the keys or it would defeat the purpose. Embedded CPU inside your CPU running opaque code on every operation you do? Trust me bro, there's no problem here.

Sure, opensource (or even just open at this point) alternative will most likely remain available as a niche, but once all major services that people want requires such a chain of control, the vast majority of people will gladly flock to locked-down system. Heck, it's already happening. Nowadays I can't even log into my bank website without a trusted iOS or Android device. The "free, open" alternative will be rare, expensive, and only work for people that cares. Which is not too much sadly.

Reject modernity, return to Gemini

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I hear web3 is a decentralised web.

I literally can't log into the Amtrak Android app unless I have Chrome installed. It strictly relies on Chrome custom tabs. Other browsers that support custom tabs don't work.

I cannot imagine any reason for this except sheer ineptitude.

Guess what Amtrak support told me when I reported this as a bug?

That's what we thought about VBScript, and Active X and Shockwave Flash, and Silverlight, at different points in the history of the Internet.

Adobe and Microsoft have both wrecked hard (at their peak) in their attempts to close and DRM the Internet.

Looks like it's Googles turn to find out if they have the clout to manage it.

Okay I wasn't expecting to be attacked like that.

The worse problem is the corruption more than the age.

I think the moment for me was when they had Mark Zuckerberg himself, testify to Congress.

They didn't "grill him" as media would've liked to have you believe. The guy danced around all of Congress because they themselves didn't know a damn thing about what he was saying. Of course he wasn't penalized and got off scot-free.

Just like every other tech company. The FTC, has no teeth. The FCC, has no teeth. Congress, has no brain.

Using browsers other than Chrome wouldn't work if websites implement it.

That is exactly what we feared about Internet Explorer 6.

The complete strangle hold of IE6 on the Internet is why I posted this from Edge (IE12ish) and why you're all reading this comment on Edge as well. /s

It's too late for Google Chrome even. There's nothing but IE6, and it will never die. /s

Ah damn it's still sitting unwatched on my hard drive. I should get on it.

You're just jealous 'cause of all the freedumb!

eagle screaming intensifies

I hate to correct your mostly correct comment, but we ask that you spell it "'Cuz, 'Murica!!"

Thanks.

They become useless on a predetermined date? What do you mean?

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allowing websites to refuse to load unless the browser the operating system running the browser promises that the user isn’t allowed to know what the computer is doing

So they won't support Linux anymore?

Yeah, I’m sure they fucking do lol Glad I use a combination of it, Firefox, and Opera GX now to diversify

Understandable lol

Sure, if the experience is degraded but not completely broken, I'm still down to ddos the perpetrators. And I get the feeling I'm not the only one. I could see this getting pretty organized.