The Web Environment Integrity API (by Google)

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The Web Environment Integrity seen by Google :
https://twitter.com/nearcyan/status/1684242509847822336?s=20

To sum up: some engineers at Google have started brainstorming about the possibility to create an API that ensures people use a certain web browser to be able to browse certain websites.

Here is the explanation behind this idea : https://github.com/RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity/

You can read the GitHub Issues to get a glance of users’ points of view about this project (to sum up: they are not found of it, to say the least).

Here is also a video about this issue:

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Why I get the feeling that it would backfire at them? First is a good drop on their stock price and then next is a great escape of visitors towards Odysee and other sort of relevant websites…

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I wouldn’t be so sure. I have the feeling that only a very few people (among the average Joe) really care about this “WEI project”.

Google Chrome being the number one web browser used in the world, maybe people don’t care if some websites (or the majority of them in the future?) can only be browsed with one specific web browser (Chrome, to not mention it)… people already use it daily.

Maybe people don’t care much about net neutrality anymore, or as much as before.

Another reason is that people have more important things to deal with nowadays (goods prices inflation, energy bills…) and who are we to blame them? We’re affected too…

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Where are the good old times, when Google (along with Apple – as major players) voted against the Flash Player.

The motivation is that supposedly the internet would be open and accessible by any device. Rather than to rely on third party, proprietary and close source technology.
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-chrome-adobe-flash

Now it seems that all website companies whatever the technology they use, all have invented clever ways and strategies to increment their power:

  • Facebook: You can’t browse it, you need to log in.
  • AppStore: You can’t browse it from browsers, you need iOS device.
  • Reddit: Some communities are private, you need to log in.
  • Discord Servers: Private internet straight out of Blade Runner.
  • Youtube: ?
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Welcome to the Google Graveyard :laughing:

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On the other hand, Google is now in full-blown warfare against the use of ad-blockers on Youtube (joining the increasingly long list of sites that will not show content if a blocker is detected).

This comes after failed attempts to paywall certain features, to be fair it is not cheap to constantly upgrade and build servers to handle the amount of content uploaded daily.