cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/2546109

Read why “Web Environment Integrity” is terrible, and why we must vocally oppose it now. Google’s latest maneuver, if we don’t act to stop it, threatens our freedom to explore the Internet with browsers of our choice.

  • Engywuck@lemm.ee
    16·
    1 year ago

    " it will be used by Google to deny access to their services unless you are using a browser that gels with their profit margin"

    Cool. So people using a different browser will move elsewhere. Maybe they’ll even stop youtube addiction. Cant’ really see a downside.

    “It is not far-fetched to imagine a future in which sites simply refuse to serve pages to users running free browsers or free operating systems.”

    Same here. Sites doing this wouldn’t probably worth to be looked at anyway.

    • SmoochyPit@beehaw.org
      29·
      1 year ago

      It’s pretty key to the internet that you can access websites using any web browser or configuration you’d like, though.

      While it’s true that some websites could just be avoided, if any government, education or healthcare websites implement this “for security”, the user will be forced to download and use a verified browser.

      In my opinion this proposal strips users of their freedoms and should be canned.

    • TheEntity@kbin.social
      20·
      1 year ago

      If the recent rexxit is any indicator, most people will just yield and do as the corpo says. They don’t care, they just want to keep using whatever they are used to. We have a self-selection bias problem in here in this regard.

    • esty@lemmy.ca
      15·
      1 year ago

      sites doing this probably wouldn’t be worth using anyways

      what about when your bank adds this? have you tried using a safetynet enforcing app on a rooted android phone? this has bigger implications than you’re seeing

      • WasPentalive@beehaw.org
        2·
        1 year ago

        What about when your bank adds this?

        I go in to the teller anyway. And if my bank gets rid of all the tellers I will choose between the bank of mattress or ATMs.

    • ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org
      6·
      1 year ago

      Cool. So people using a different browser will move elsewhere. Maybe they’ll even stop youtube addiction. Cant’ really see a downside.

      Addictions do not really work that way

    • zeus ⁧ ⁧ ∽↯∼@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      lemm.ee was talking about using cloudflare (i can’t remember whether he went through with it), which will almost certainly implement this. lemmy.world already does. there is no good outcome from this going through where this only blocks google sites from firefox.

      even if there was, that still means you can’t open any gdrive links you find on the internet, use a youtube tutorial to fix something, use the play store to buy any apps (because if they integrate this into chrome, they will integrate it into the play store), etc.

      edit 2023-08-10:

      hey guess what engywuck, lemm.ee uses cloudflare now:

      image showing the cloudflare "edge ip restricted" page for lemm.ee

      good luck accessing lemm.ee from non-chromium if this goes through

      in fact view you probably won’t be able to view any embedded youtube videos at all. people would have to go back to hosting their own videos which would push hosting costs up, which would raise the barrier of entry to people making their own sites. which is something we want to encourage

      • Engywuck@lemm.ee
        3·
        1 year ago

        I couldn’t care less about YouTube, Gplay or GDrive. And people hosting their own videos is a good thing, in my opinion.

      • pinkdrunkenelephants@lemm.ee
        1·
        1 year ago

        Then we’ll just have to build and migrate to alternatives, which is preferable anyway. That’s how the internet was supposed to be.