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I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

blog.samuelmaddock.com

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Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#3
> For the last 2 years I’ve been working on a web browser that now cannot be completed because Google, the creators of the open source browser Chrome, won’t allow DRM in an open source project.

It can too be completed, you're just not gonna have DRM'd content. I have a browser that has the same problem, and I just leave pages that can't do video playback (which doesn't include YouTube because they use WebM). There's still value in a non-DRM'd browser for most of the web, and hey, if enough of us use one maybe sites will start being more liberal in the licensing of their video (but let's be honest, probably not).

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#7
DRM often results in a whitelist of media clients, killing standards in favor of a centralized authority. HDCP does the same for video feeds (HDMI, etc.). DRM-protected boxes can only output to DRM-protected displays, giving a central authority the ability to effectively deny new client devices from being made: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Conte...

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#8
post #2

Had the same issue with an Electron app of mine, published on the AppStore with 10k users or so. It's been more than a year that I'm in contact with Google/Widevine, waiting for my license. This is a nightmare. It's such an obvious gatekeeping mechanism.

What license?

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#9
post #3

> For the last 2 years I’ve been working on a web browser that now cannot be completed because Google, the creators of the open source browser Chrome, won’t allow DRM in an open source project. It can too be completed, you're just not gonna have DRM'd content. I have a browser that has the same problem, and I just leave pages that can't do video playback (which doesn't include YouTube because they use WebM). There's…

You're right in general, but the OP's browser seems fairly useless without it
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