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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

#471
post #253

I also find the title to be rather sensational.. "I tried creating a web browser" ^ "Google blocked me" implies that Google blocked them from creating a web browser.. which is not the case.

It absolutely is blocking. You know as well as I do that this is a conversation that's likely been had behind closed doors at Alphabet.

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

#472
post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the above, with a couple caveats. For HDMI, specifically: A is true, as HDMI requires a pretty ugly IP core on an fpga or an asic to process or produce the phy. B is also true, as to sell a device with an HDMI port you have to join the group and pay fees. If you're just hacking stuff together for personal use I think you're A-okay here. C is true ONLY in the case of HDCP protected content, as that handshake d…

Also I'm pretty sure the hdcp private keys have been factored, so anyone can now make unauthorized but compatible devices.

All DRM solutions eventually fail. It's an endless race. Companies pour millions and millions into media DRM, and yet all of the content is cracked and uploaded on pirate sites, without fail. They don't seem to understand how much of a waste their efforts are, and the government doesn't seem to realize how pointless, and stifling of innovation and competition laws like DMCA are.

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

#473

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…

The Netflix issue isn't really DRM, it's just a way to minimize bandwidth[1]; they found HQ 720 encodes to be sufficient quality for most consumers. I personally find it lacking.

[1]: https://medium.com/netflix-techblog/per-title-encode-optimiz...

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

#474

Let's add the US Congress and the EU to the long list of parties to blame for the DRM situation. "Reverse engineering" software for the purposes of "circumventing" copyright is illegal. "Circumventing" is much more broadly defined than it should be. It's not just illegal to redistribute copyrighted material. That's the point of copyright and has been the case for a long time. It's also illegal to watch/consume conten…

Fun fact: due to the situation of CS in late USSR, Russia still has a law preserving the right to reverse engineer any software over any agreement or license.

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

#475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If a single company can effectively decide whether a bunch of 3rd party sites that they don't control work on your browser, how is that any different? Because those third party sites choose to utilise closed software from that company. And Netflix doesn't only utilise Widevine as a DRM, it uses several different DRM systems, so Google don't have control over anything.

This. Netflix is buying security for their product by doing this. We may all think (know) DRM is dumb, but DRM is more than just about how hard it is to hack. Sure, everyone could in theory reverse engineer this stuff. But the point is that it's only legally protected as long as it's at least not trivial . Open sourcing would probably invalidate their legal defences against people downloading Netflix movies.

> invalidate their legal defences against people downloading Netflix movies.

I highly doubt that. A ToS violation is still a ToS violation (in the case of Netflix, which is expressly a streaming service), and copyright infringement is still copyright infringement. The legal protection that's afforded to DRM itself is something that's literally only useful to you as a content holder if you're looking to abuse copyright and go far beyond what copyright law actually grants you! That's what makes the whole notion so problematic in the first place.

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

#476

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…

The Netflix issue isn't really DRM, it's just a way to minimize bandwidth[1]; they found HQ 720 encodes to be sufficient quality for most consumers. I personally find it lacking. [1]: https://medium.com/netflix-techblog/per-title-encode-optimiz...

Nah, it's a DRM thing. You get 4k if you open it in edge with their PlayReady DRM.

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

#477
post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have the same thing in my Safari with 1Blocker. Also built-in on system level and doesn't even download blocked stuff.

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

#478
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.

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

#479

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…

The Netflix issue isn't really DRM, it's just a way to minimize bandwidth[1]; they found HQ 720 encodes to be sufficient quality for most consumers. I personally find it lacking. [1]: https://medium.com/netflix-techblog/per-title-encode-optimiz...

I pay for 4k netflix but can't watch it on my computer because of drm. On Chrome it only streams up to 720p, and I have to use Edge for 1080p. To stream 4k you need to use their microsoft store app, a specific high-end processor or graphics card, and on top of that you also need a monitor that supports hdcp 2.2. I have all of the above (1080ti and hdcp 2.2 compliant monitor) but still can't stream 4k because my second monitor is not hdcp 2.2 compliant. The monitor states that it is but I couldn't get it to work even after extensive research. All of my setup is pretty modern and high-end and I still can't stream 4k netflix because drm hardware keeps evolving. If this is supposed to make me pirate less, it's not very effective.

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

#480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty soon web traffic will be decrypted and rendered via site specific web assembly blobs that will do everything in their power to defeat custom rendering. The modern web has just begun, and the powers that be are still grappling with its control. So we're still living in a comparative wild-west, but you can see the writing on the wall in every direction you look online right now.

We ahould be doing exactly this in opposite: Anti ad exit node proxies. Basically an ecryoted proxy connection to a powerful ad stripping instance that will randomize and pipe all that shit to dev null, and reply to trackers with addesses of their competing ad systems. So that every ad for “microsoft” appears as though its being used by apple users...

Ah yes, but then who controls those servers? A lot of people think that US Government agents own enough TOR nodes to de-anonymize.
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