Bonum Certa Men Certa

The World Wide Web is Turning Into Trash With Computer-Generated Spew in Place of News and DRM Instead of Open Standards

Video download link | md5sum c54c33e3c2785e958f9b611d970876a8 World Wide Web Deteriorating Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: The World Wide Web was becoming proprietary some years ago; now they add some more Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) on top of it, in effect dooming everything once known as the "Open Web"

THE more recent Daily Links (from this past week) included coverage regarding the “Web Integrity API”, which is a misleading name. We include them again below [1-5] for readers' convenience and some context. Digital artist David Revoy has since then published a "picture [he] had in mind about the topic of Web Environment Integrity." [6]



Here it is:

Fighting For The Open Web
"Fighting For The Open Web" by David Revoy − CC-BY 4.0



So what's it all about? Basically we wrote about this trend one week ago, cautioning the World Wide Web is rapidly becoming proprietary.

"One solution that seems far-fetched (at least for now) is abandoning the Web and gradually adopting something else."So what's the solution to all this? In the video above I explain that changing one's Web browser won't solve the issue. A lot of the problem is upstream. The Web itself is becoming poisonous to the client side.

One solution that seems far-fetched (at least for now) is abandoning the Web and gradually adopting something else. It may take a long time to gain a foothold. But it's progressing. 4 years ago Gemini started and we kept an eye on it months later, then adopted it. Techrights started 2.5 years ago (its first capsule iteration was very simplistic) and it grew over time to nearly 50,000 pages. Now there is almost 1-to-1 parity between our site and our Gemini capsule. The same is true for Tux Machines, which adopted Gemini less than a year ago (still very young, but the site turns 20 next summer). It has been a worthwhile effort and a smooth ride. Tux Machines saw over 100 unique IPs today in Gemini. Pages are requested about 50 per day per unique visitor. So Gemini is growing and it's awesome. The next milestone might be 1,000 unique IPs per day. Techrights is exceeding 500 some days.

"This is more like Adobe Flash or a blob with ActiveX/ActionScript and some "protected content" (DRM)."The Web isn't dead, but it's waning. Publishers or "News Web Sites" that stay only with the Web are not keeping up with changing times. Today's "modern" Web is becoming a DRM-enabled transport layer for a "virtual machine" called "Web browser" (or "app"), running WASM (WebAssembly), JS (JavaScript) etc. This is more like Adobe Flash or a blob with ActiveX/ActionScript and some "protected content" (DRM). It's not open. Don't help the openwashing. Accept that adoption of such "standards" just further marginalises small players. ActionScript is already small and primitive compared to what the Web is today.

The video above further discusses a worrying trend in the content one finds on the Web these days. As noted the other day, summaries get created by bots and a lot of things people read aren't even composed by humans. While grinding through today's headlines one finds a lot of clickbait and deceptive sentences. In some cases those are composed with SEO in mind, not with humans in mind. In other words, the headlines are written to target bots (like Googlebot), not humans. Where are we going with this?

"ActionScript is already small and primitive compared to what the Web is today."Now, back to DRM. When Julien Picalausa wrote about it 3 days ago he made it abundantly clear that “Web Integrity API” or "Web Environment Integrity" (WEI) from Google is DRM by another name. As a reader told us, the Web browser Vivaldi's site tears apart the PR. And there is low-profile trouble brewing with DRM in Chromium which Google is pushing. WEI is the "Web Environment Integrity API", which is yet another name (among many others) for DRM. It's Google-controlled DRM with another new euphemism.

Google has been by far the worst culprit when it comes to putting DRM in the Linux kernel. Maybe it's time to say goodbye to Google. If it's hard to use the Web without a Google-controlled browser (Chromium derivative or Google-funded Firefox), we might have to discard the Web, too.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. Google’s nightmare “Web Integrity API” wants a DRM gatekeeper for the web

    Google's newest proposed web standard is... DRM? Over the weekend the Internet got wind of this proposal for a "Web Environment Integrity API. " The explainer is authored by four Googlers, including at least one person on Chrome's "Privacy Sandbox" team, which is responding to the death of tracking cookies by building a user-tracking ad platform right into the browser.



  2. Google's post-cookie world could turn into DRM for the [Internet]

    The new proposal details "Web Environment Integrity," which would use what sounds like Trust Tokens to ensure that the client viewing a website is a human without revealing too much about them. Google suggests the system could be an alternative to captchas and other solutions that websites utilize to block bots, online game cheaters, and other malicious actors.

    However, the GitHub page admits that servers could use the tokens to block visitors based on what they're using to access a site. The result could theoretically be DRM prohibiting ad blockers, extensions, or modified operating systems.



  3. Google's next big idea for browser security looks like another freedom grab to some

    This therefore starts to slide the web toward a time in which only authorized, officially released browsers will be accepted by websites.

    And since Chromium serves as the foundation of not just Google Chrome, but also Microsoft Edge, Brave, and a number of other browsers, WEI could have a broad effect on the web – if and when it gets deployed and adopted.



  4. Google's Web Integrity API branded 'attack on the open web'

    A working draft specification for a new browser API from Google has raised outcry from the technical community about ethics, trust and adding DRM to the internet.

    The Web Environment Integrity API (WEI) is not a heavily promoted project - the documentation is only hosted on an employee's personal Github account, rather than an official repo - but there are signs that Google is actively working to build the feature into Chrome now.



  5. Google trying to corner browser market, Norwegian firm Vivaldi claims

    "This means Google decides which browser is trustworthy on its own platform. I do not see how they can be expected to be impartial," he noted.

    "On Windows, they would probably defer to Microsoft via the Windows Store, and on Mac, they would defer to Apple. So, we can expect that at least Edge and Safari are going to be trusted. Any other browser will be left to the good graces of those three companies."

    Picalausa said it would not be possible for browser firms not to implement the specification if it was accepted. "Any browser choosing not to implement this would not be trusted and any website choosing to use this API could therefore reject users from those browsers. Google also has ways to drive adoptions by websites themselves," he pointed out.

    "First, they can easily make all their properties depend on using these features, and not being able to use Google websites is a death sentence for most browsers already.

    "Furthermore, they could try to mandate that sites that use Google Ads use this API as well, which makes sense since the first goal is to prevent fake ad clicks. That would quickly ensure that any browser not supporting the API would be doomed."

    He said that it was possible that laws in the European Union would "not allow a few companies to have a huge amount of power in deciding which browsers are allowed and which are not. There is no doubt that attesters would be under a huge amount of pressure to be as fair as possible".

    However, Picalausa added, "Unfortunately, legislative and judicial machineries tend to be slow and there is no saying how much damage will be done while governments and judges are examining this. If this is allowed to move forward, it will be a hard time for the open Web and might affect smaller vendors significantly."



  6. Fighting for the open web.

    A picture I had in mind about the topic of Web Environment Integrity.





Recent Techrights' Posts

How Corporations Such as Microsoft Try to Crush Critics and Dissolve Activism
Stay focused
Wikipedia Can Lower Its Hosting Bill by Going More Static, Not Just by Caching, But It Would Not Solve Its Biggest Problems (Bribes and AstroTurfing)
For about 15 years we had a Wiki in this site
Urgent Need for SLAPP Litigation Transparency
Microsofters really want to shut us up
On Shutdowns and 2,000 More Layoffs at Microsoft (10,000 Microsoft Staff May Have Already Been Laid Off in 2025)
Microsoft tries to hide and belittle mass layoffs; its data centre business also flounders, so it issues puff pieces about some anniversary over and over again
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: A "Deep Dive" Into the Complaint at the California Privacy Protection Agency
There are many facets to it and it may be the first complaint of several
Microsoft Problems in Europe Even Before the Cheeto Tariffs
The case of Romania, Europe's notorious Microsoft fan
Oman in 2025: GNU/Linux Growing to 5%
what can Microsoft do about it except sabotage the PCs?
Microsoft Shares Collapse Again (Down $101), Fifth Round of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in Less Than 100 Days in 2025
disaster
 
Walmart Vizio TVs Scream At Immigrants to Leave America
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Stolen Credit Card and LinkedIn. DHS Spies on Immigrant Social Media.
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
At 50, Microsoft Has Over 100 Billion Dollars in Debt and Less Than 25% "Market Share" (Windows)
statCounter basically sees less than a quarter of Web requests coming from Windows
linuxhint.com Died 12 Months Ago (After Adopting Image Slop)
Zombie sites
LLM Slop Will Eventually Stop Due to High Costs, Worse Training Sets (Polluted Models Ingesting Their Own Junk), and No Real Returns
This too shall pass
Courage is Contagious
I became a witness to acts of great courage from EPO examiners
Gemini Links 08/04/2025: Gabbro 0.1.4 and Disillusioned With Social Control Media
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows in Jordan: From 99% Down to 10%
This is becoming more "normal"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 07, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 07, 2025
Gemini Links 07/04/2025: Stock Market, Galène, and DMT Entities
Links for the day
During the Weekend We Said Fedora DEI Requires Proprietary Software, Now the Chat About It Is No Longer Accessible Over the Open Web
is this just a coincidence and an habitual change in Element?
Links 07/04/2025: US Measles Fatalities and China Launches HDMI and DisplayPort Alternative
Links for the day
Links 07/04/2025: More Cuts to Science Funding, Snail-speed Internet in Germany
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/04/2025: Leasehold and Safe Gifts
Links for the day
In Some Countries, Laptops and Desktops Become a Dying Breed (Even Before Tariffs), Windows Has Nowhere to Go
expect more GNU/Linux on new and existing laptops
When the Credibility or 'Quality' of Clients Ceases to Matter, It's About Helping Rich Companies Like Microsoft Censor Critics (No Matter the Risks)
Bad ideas typically result in undesirable outcomes
UAE: GNU/Linux and Android at Record Levels, Windows at New Lows and Falling Below Apple
Even iOS is measured as bigger than Windows this month
Links 07/04/2025: Reddit Occupied (Social Control Media Controlled by Oligarchy), Demise of Globalisation Ongoing
Links for the day
Windows Has Fallen to All-Time Lows in Switzerland Since GNU Celebrated 40th Anniversary (GNU’s 40th Birthday in Biel, Switzerland)
GNU/Linux has been doing well in Switzerland
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 06, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 06, 2025
Links 07/04/2025: Leaving Gemini/smolweb and Mastodon Migrations
Links for the day
In Iraq, Windows 3.1 (Percent)
There's also zero
One Person's Take on Jef Spaleta, the New Fedora Project Leader
"With a little searching, I wonder what else may be found regarding Microsoft."
Links 06/04/2025: Flood, Cool Gemini Capsule, and Long Form
Links for the day
Links 06/04/2025: Science, Politics, and Pricier Goods
Links for the day
LLM Slop Has Virtually Killed unixmen.com and Many Other Sites
There's no longer any incentive to write real articles in there
Sharp Declines for Microsoft Windows in Bangladesh (Pop. ~175,000,000), Big Gains for GNU/Linux
Microsoft Windows has been having a really hard time in poor countries
Links 06/04/2025: Fake Reviews, Privatisation Heists, and "AI" as Smokescreen for Impoverishing Humans
Links for the day
Taking a Moral Stand Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the Worst Offenders/Facilitators
Any other stance would sidle with moral depravity or moral hazard
Links 06/04/2025: Many New Acts of Repression and Elements of Financial Depression
Links for the day
In Qatar GNU/Linux Rose From Under 1% to Over 4% in Two Years (or Over 5% If Counting ChromeOS)
It's a big improvement compared to what we saw last year
LLM Scrapers Are a Nuisance, But They're Also a Reminder It's Time to Make Your Site Static
Perhaps the best protection is the ability to endure surges
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 05, 2025
Links 06/04/2025: Attacks on Education, Fake Patents, and Fake (Illegal) Patent Courts
Links for the day
France: Apple and Microsoft Down, GNU/Linux Up to New Record Levels
How will tariffs against France impact things in the coming months?