Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#1

Post by sohkamyung » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 3:53 AM UTC

Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist
chromium-review.googlesource.com

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#2

Post by crakenzak » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:04 AM UTC

What are the implications of this? Can’t you just curl/wget the html?

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#3

Post by panic » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:14 AM UTC

Some more context at https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=895462:

> With Schools using Google Forms as a testing platform, students are able to use this shortcut to search through the source of the page, and determine the correct answers.

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#4

Post by jamesfinlayson » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:14 AM UTC

crakenzak wrote: post #2

What are the implications of this? Can’t you just curl/wget the html?

Or look in the network tab too?

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#5

Post by verdverm » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:15 AM UTC

crakenzak wrote: post #2

What are the implications of this? Can’t you just curl/wget the html?

Seems like they have added the ability to block devtools on sites as well...

Certainly seems like we'll need tools which don't close things off like this.

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#6

Post by verdverm » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:17 AM UTC

jamesfinlayson wrote: post #4

crakenzak wrote: post #2

What are the implications of this? Can’t you just curl/wget the html?

Or look in the network tab too?

You can block devtools as well it looks like

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#7

Post by missblit » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:19 AM UTC

crakenzak wrote: post #2

What are the implications of this? Can’t you just curl/wget the html?

This kind of stuff can make sense when you consider "enterprise" environments like school labs.

Notice on the bug report that the reproduction steps include setting a "DeveloperToolsDisabled" registry entry. Curl / wget wouldn't always be accessible in this kind of locked down setup (and they're probably trying to make it difficult even if it's impossible to block completely).

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#8

Post by 2Gkashmiri » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:19 AM UTC

Why do I feel like everyone will do this in the quest for "protecting ad money" and will once again have the case of that man charged with hacking for doing CTRL+u

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#9

Post by lucasyvas » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:20 AM UTC

This makes me think of that ridiculous case in the US with the SSNs on the state website.

Maybe just don't put things in source you don't want to be seen?

Re: Chromium: Permit blocking of view-source: with URLBlocklist

#10

Post by advisedwang » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:21 AM UTC

This is for the chromeos devices/managed chrome browsers [1]. From the bug [2] it looks like this was relevant in a school setting, where this is common. So the school hands out some chromebooks and wants to use that managed environment to prevent kids cheating on quizzes by looking at source code.

DRM and related technologies are an effort to wrest control of devices away from their owners, and give control the manufacturers and software companies. For managed devices, this is a bit more reasonable (a school should be able to manage its devices I suppose) but the technological framework here also eliminates software freedom.

[1] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7532419?hl=en [2] https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=895462