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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

#421

Post by yayana »

masukomi wrote: post #410
djsumdog wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a dangerous precedent. Think about adblock. You're just choosing to render the data websites give to you differently. What if you design a web browser that just ignores most blobs of CSS/Javascript and renders content in a very different way. Are you now breaking copyright? Because you're rendering the data differently than the W3C standard or blocking certain elements? I realize this is specifically about DRM c…

> What if you design a web browser that just ignores most blobs of CSS/Javascript and renders content in a very different way. that describes every command line / terminal web browser.

Ignoring what you don't understand is arguably valid, dark mode would be illegal..

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

#422

Post by [deleted] »

kelnos wrote: post #380
pushpop wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been running it since the earliest beta versions when it was literally Xbox Media Center - a media center for modded Xboxes (original). I’ve ran it on all kinds of hardware from laptops, Android phones and tablets, Raspberry Pis (version 1 through to 3), Intel NUCs, etc. And obviously not forgetting the Xbox. Until very recently it was my go to media center. I even went as far as to write some plugins for it. Bu…

As a (former) plugin developer and long-time user and community member, I don't think you're exactly the best person to evaluate today's install usability for a non- or even somewhat-technical new-ish user.

[deleted]

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

#423

Post by arendtio »

gsnedders wrote: post #399
the8472 wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EME is part of web standards. So for some value of standards compliant web browser google can block you from implementing it. https://www.w3.org/TR/2017/REC-encrypted-media-20170918/

EME does not require Widevine; you can implement EME in its entirety yourself, in open code. Widevine is only one of several implementations of a Content Decryption Module; it just so happens to be by far the easiest to license (though that doesn't mean that's easy!).

So could I write a custom Content Decryption Module that would be able to decrypt Netflix content? Or would the content providers have to support my custom Content Decryption Module?

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

#424

Post by _corym »

samstave wrote: post #419
djsumdog wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a dangerous precedent. Think about adblock. You're just choosing to render the data websites give to you differently. What if you design a web browser that just ignores most blobs of CSS/Javascript and renders content in a very different way. Are you now breaking copyright? Because you're rendering the data differently than the W3C standard or blocking certain elements? I realize this is specifically about DRM c…

This is what pisses me off aboit ads and data consumption pay rates: if i am paying for “1GB” of data, then i should have full control over how that data gets consumed by the content i am accessing over that paid pipe. Period.

That's why I use Brave Browser, it blocks everything by default. Doesn't even download them.

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

#425

Post by goldenkey »

dd36 wrote: post #392
freedomben wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely agree. Those government believe that protecting intellectual property is necessary to further human and societal progress. I won't take a position on whether I agree with that or not. However, based on that premise they've instituted rules to "protect" intellectual property, but unfortunately they're so weighted toward the "owner" of the IP that they do (IMHO serious) harm to regular users and consumers. I…

The government is propping up the companies because that's what the companies made happen. Your framing suggests that government did this on its own. It did not. The outsized ability of companies to influence the government is the core problem that must first be solved. It is the root of most people's gripes with the government.

[flagged]

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

#426

Post by yellowapple »

hluska wrote: post #413
yellowapple wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That comment didn't really read as any more rude than your own, IMO. Maybe you're just responding to rudeness with rudeness, though, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt there.

Yeah, you’re right, I wasn’t my usual self. I’d edit it to soften my words, but then your comment will lose its value and I’d rather not do that to you. If I could point out one thing that separates our accounts, I don’t use this account to recruit or advertise. I have an email address in my profile because I mostly like talking to interesting people about interesting things. That’s not an excuse for my reply - my re…

No worries. I've been there, too :)

You're not necessarily wrong to evaluate the GP's company based on the GP's views. HN is one of those weird grey areas where lots of people implicitly represent the companies for which they work (and don't do the normal "the views expressed herein are not representative of $COMPANY") without necessarily realizing it. While I don't believe the comment was particularly out of line, I can see why others would disagree, and I do agree that caution is worthwhile in the absence of an explicit disconnect between one's own opinions and those of one's employer.

I will, of course, say right now that my own views are not representative of my employer's views (hell, my views tend to be the precise opposite of my employer's views at times ;) ).

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

#428

Post by cbnotfromthere »

goldenkey wrote: post #425
dd36 wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government is propping up the companies because that's what the companies made happen. Your framing suggests that government did this on its own. It did not. The outsized ability of companies to influence the government is the core problem that must first be solved. It is the root of most people's gripes with the government.

[flagged]

Is that you, Bernie?

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

#429

Post by ehsankia »

gnomewascool wrote: post #371

Regarding browser extensions, the Firefox "webextensions" API is (mostly) compatible with Chromium's, so with relatively little effort you could target both the Firefox and Chromium families of browsers. Firefox compatibility is valuable because Firefox extensions don't have to be distributed through the Mozilla add-on store (they do need to be signed by AMO, but provided your extension isn't doing anything illegal,…

I was curious about this too, and I wonder if OP can clarify what they mean by "reduced features". What exactly is it that they want to do, which requires them to create a whole new browser, vs just creating a website/extension.

I would much rather have a webapp than have to download a whole new browser just to watch videos with a friend. Most of the stuff listed on the github (WebRTC, WebSocket) are just normal web technologies. The only other thing I see is "Discord Rich Presence".

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

#430

Post by arendtio »

DRM is just a huge pile of shit. I mean, if it would actually work I would say okay, at least we have a solution that everyone is somehow happy with. But instead we consumers just loose. To give a few examples:

- When I want to watch movies on Amazon Prime Video, there are some movies I can't watch in HD, even if I paid for HD (so the movie obviously exists in HD; probably dependent on the rights holder). The problem is that I can't see if I can watch the HD version before I buy the movie.

- On Netflix, I don't get 1080 at all with my browser, even if I pay for 4k.

- Every few weeks, Spotify pushes a broken version of their web player to the website and from one moment to the other, I can't listen to 'my' music anymore until they fix it. The good news is that it seems to happen less frequently lately. Nevertheless, that would not be a problem if I could listen to 'my' music with a normal mp3 player.

- A few hours ago, I wanted to play a game, but guess what... Steam had a network problem [1] and didn't even let me enter the offline mode.

[1] https://store.steampowered.com/stats/

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