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I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

blog.samuelmaddock.com

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Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#151

Post by Aerroon »

btilly wrote: post #144
eecks wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As a dev it should be some common sense that you can't just playback 4k video from Netflix with a built-in Browser. why not?

Because if you can playback 4k video from Netflix with a browser under your control, then you can playback 4k video to a file and thereby create a cracked copy that can be pirated. DRM is built on a self-contradictory premise that tremendous amounts of effort are going into making work. Namely, if we save content in a special format, then we can make it impossible for it to be used except as we decide. However they t…

>Because if you can playback 4k video from Netflix with a browser under your control, then you can playback 4k video to a file and thereby create a cracked copy that can be pirated.

Can't you just record the screen to do this? Or split the signal in the cable or have the screen itself send the data on to another device. At the very least you can always just physically record the screen itself.

At the end of the day, you have to ask whether this is worth it. Does it actually help sales to offset the costs?

Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#152

Post by missblit »

Thaxll wrote: post #112
Tepix wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DRM that Google controls

You're free to open a website that directly stream some mpeg ts without encryption, Google is not to blame, the people that actually want that are the publisher. Youtube does not use DRM fyi.

Parts of youtube use widevine (I think mainly for movie / TV rentals and the like)

Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#153

Post by tbodt »

sneak wrote: post #18
tracedddd wrote: post #13

I’m not claiming the situation is just or should be ignored, but the option the author seems to be ignoring is to launch without Widevine. Sure, a lot won’t work, but a lot will. Having a vocal community can add a lot of pressure.

They could also reverse engineer the Widevine module binary and reimplement it in their own project. You don't really need Google for this.

Aside from being illegal, defeating the various layers of obfuscation and extracting the private keys requires a very particular set of skills, beyond the reach of most programmers. And then they'll just rotate the key and add more obfuscation, once they're done suing you out of existence.

Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#155

Post by vulcan01 »

zucker42 wrote: post #135
supermatt wrote: post #42

I had the same problem. After a couple of emails, I got completely ghosted. They simply do not respond. Seems that google pushed hard for EME, under the guise of giving widevine to anyone who wanted it. Of course, as is evident from OPs situation - this isn't the case. There is an ongoing EC investigation.

What is EC?

The European Commission is investigating Google over some of their business practices. One example is https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/28/google-faces-eu-antitrust-pr...

Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#156

Post by Fice »

DRM is fundamentally incompatible with open source and free software. DRM is all about restricting what your computer can do (what code it is allowed to run), so it can be trusted by third parties with handling protected information. Content providers want to be able to trust your computer in not allowing you to have full control of what it does.

If users can execute their free software rights (modify software and run modified versions), they can instruct their computers to do anything, thus DRM would not be possible. Binary blobs like Widivine are not complete DRM solutions on systems where users can still modify their display server or kernel. As DRM gets more widespread, content providers will require more strictly locked systems, that's why mobile devices are shipped with locked bootloaders and PCs have secure boot and TPM — most current hardware is ready to support strict DRM.

The only approach to DRM is to boycott its use completely, there is no workaround or compromise.

Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#157

Post by mvolfik »

zucker42 wrote: post #106
speedgoose wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you consider to not get a license? You could perhaps download and execute Widevine pretending to be Firefox or Chrome. Is there advanced spying software in Widevine preventing to do that?

Potentially, there's a 5 year jail sentence for doing that[1]. [1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1204

The thing is he isn't circumventing copyright protection. He is just allowing it to play in his browser too, no downloading etc. I'm a legal noob, but there always was that "fair interests" like making stuff work on different devices/OSs (youtube-dl is hiding behind this a bit), would it not apply here?

Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#158

Post by anthk »

codemac wrote: post #46
paultopia wrote: post #37

Wait, what is this person trying to do? They're not happy that Google open-sourced Chrome, so they also demand that Google open-source some DRM system so that they can make a media player for Netflix or something? Forgive me for not feeling sorry for someone who wants to make a browser polluted with DRM who complains that someone else is enforcing their copyright.

https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/ Yes, someone attempted to build a tool that was interesting to them, and ran into DRM related roadblocks. Life is not all or nothing. Even GNU is a a matter of free software improving over time rather than a purity test. Do you really think RMS refused to run grep until it was FLOSS?

>RMS refused to run grep until it was FLOSS?

RMS and anyone could implement a dumb grep from within GNU ed easily.

Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#159

Post by userbinator »

underseacables wrote: post #2

Why aren’t there more browsers? Is it just a matter of all the IP tied up by the majors?

Google basically controls the "standards" now, and it has the resources to keep churning them endlessly while spreading propaganda about how much better the new features are and how everyone should use them --- because they're only implemented in its browser.

There are perfectly capable HTML4-level browsers like Dillo, NetSurf, etc. and a bunch of similar projects on GitHub (under elaborate yet non-browser descriptions such as "HTML viewer with CSS support".) If only people would stop drinking the Goog-aid and unnecessarily "app-ifying" sites, maybe we would have more browser diversity... after all, the majority of sites I use are from the "document web" and not the "application web".

Edit: downvoted for talking against Google, interesting...

Re: I tried creating a web browser and Google blocked me (2019)

#160

Post by Wowfunhappy »

kmeisthax wrote: post #79
_jal wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dirty little secret: when software vendors speak, they will frequently blur the purpose of a given security measure and who, exactly, it protects. This measure helps protect Google. And much like a politician stretching the definition of the national interest to include themselves, Google might say that they're protecting you by protecting themselves.

If Google can use this to rate limit sign-ins more effectively, then it does protect users, since the limiting factor on password security is time to crack.

I want the ability to change these types of settings for my account. They can be buried in an advanced menu somewhere.

I have a password manager. My Google password is a long, unique string of random characters that I don't use on any other service. If someone does break into my Google account, it will be because they broke into my password manager and/or successfully phished me (or hit me on the head with a $5 wrench). Number of retries will have nothing to do with it, unless they have a computer from the future.

I am much more concerned about Google locking me out of my account some day in an attempt to stop someone from breaking in, then I am about someone else actually breaking in.

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