this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Can you explain this to a layman what this does?

[–] RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca 53 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Web dev here. It enforces the original markup and code from a server to be the markup and code that the browser interprets and executes, preventing any post-loading modifications.

That sounds a bit dry, but the implications are huge. It means:

  • ad blockers won't work (the main reason for Google's ploy)
  • many, if not most, other browser extensions won't work (eg.: accessibility, theming, anti-malware)
  • people are going to start running into a lot of scam ads that ad blockers would otherwise prevent
  • malicious websites will be able to operate with impunity since you cannot run security extensions to prevent them
  • web developers are going to be crippled for lack of debugging ability

These are just a few things off the top of my head. There are endless and very dangerous implications to WEI. This is very, very bad for the web and antithesis of how it's supposed to be.

TBL is probably experiencing a sudden disturbance in the force.

[–] Peruvian_Skies@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wouldn't it be possible to create some kind of "post-browser" that takes input from the web browser and displays it after passing it through ad blockers and whatever else?

[–] RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Such an abstraction, while unnecessary, should be possible, providing that Google doesn't forcibly prevent access to the final markup that coalesces (ie.: view source and web dev tools)

[–] CallumWells@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

The only acceptable browser would obviously be ones that restrict that access, how else are they going to force people to see all their ads?

[–] DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

Perhaps, but it's not as simple as it sounds.

Most of the Web requires js to work. I don't think the js will work without the DRM.

So the proxy would need to be running the js, and emulate your clicks and so on.

[–] DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's a way to disable ad blockers.

Presently web servers send data to your browser, which can arrange the content however you wish, because it's your browser on your device. Excluding content you don't like is fairly trivial.

This drm stuff will basically make the browser refuse to display anything unless the whole page is unaltered.

[–] Zaneak@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Does unaltered include things like colorblind extension that change colors to more easily differentiate between some red/green for example? Or stuff like reddit enhancement suite? Sounds like a good way to kill other possible useful extensions.

[–] RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

That's exactly what it will do. Don't believe the bullshit in their "non-goals" section, they don't give a fuck. If accessibility extensions happen to continue working (at least temporarily), it will be by accident, because they for damn sure aren't going to spend even a second on compatibility.