this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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I'm a bit less worried after reading this comment, which explains things like how they DON'T want it to be "DRM for the web" and the proposed measures to prevent it. https://github.com/RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity/issues/28#issuecomment-1651129388
This is classic Google/corporate strategy - make it "digestable" to the most vocal public and address the concerns on the surface, then slowly erode, lock in and enshittify. Look at what's happened to Gtalk/Hangouts for instance - everyone using other XMPP clients eventually switched to Gtalk since it was an open protocol and they could also continue using their existing clients, but after some time Google locked them in, then completely killed XMPP, then completely killed Hangouts.
It may subjectively look like Google is trying to address concerns around Web Integrity and sure, initial iterations may all be harmless and won't break anything, but I'm 100% willing to bet that as people put their pitchforks down and Web Integrity all but fades away from public memory, they'll start to lock you in with more and more DRM-like features, more and more websites will start to adopt it, until one day, you suddenly look back and realize you've been had, and how shitty the web has become - but by that point, it's too late to change anything.
We need to nip this in the bud, before it even takes off. It goes grossly against the open web envisioned by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, regardless of its "good" intentions.
Google had said a lot of things during the years. Lying is second nature. As soon as there is a possibility to increase revenue, get on the good side of advertisers, or decrease competition, they will.
You have to understand that they are working under capitalism, where the only thing that matters is to grow your profits every year, or your stocks tank.
They are there for profits, and don't care at all about the internets health or wellbeing. Maybe some employees do but it doesn't matter. They don't decide what to work on.
Google wants the internet sites to be like cable TV. You subscribe to them, you can't block ads, and you have to run their allowed operating systems and devices. They make all the rules. You can do nothing.
WEI code is already being merged while Google is trying the "finding a suitable forum" tactics. If it's truely for open web's benefit, why the rush?