tl;dr: "Google’s nightmare “Web Integrity API” wants a DRM gatekeeper for the web"

The use cases for the WEI proposal are pretty clear from the explainer https://github.com/RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity/ :

Google "will be able to request a token that attests key facts about the environment their client code is running in."

Google "will ultimately decide if they trust the verdict returned from the attester."

"Allow" Google "to evaluate the authenticity of the device and honest representation of the software stack and the traffic from the device."

I have replaced "web sites" and "web servers" in the original explainer text with "Google" for clarity of intent.

Why would Google want these capabilities in web browsers?

What does Google plan to do with them?

What follow-on actions is Google planning?

Google marketing exec: "We need to lock down web browsers so we can make more money by showing ads."

"Ad blockers need to be prevented. The new WEI APIs will ensure that ad blockers aren't running, that our ads are being seen, and that no DRM is being compromised."

"We also want to prevent ad fraud. With WEI we can ensure that ad clicks are legit and that people are watching the ads we show. If we can't control the operating system like we can on Chromebooks and Android phones, then we need to control the web browser with cryptographic certainty."

Getting browsers to adopt and implement Web Environment Integrity is Step 1.

Step 2 is where all Google web sites start requiring Web Environment Integrity to be used or they lock you out of the site.

Step 3 is where all websites serving Google ads require Web Environment Integrity to be used.

Step 4 Profit!

Web Environment Integrity is the beginning of the further DRM-ification and enshittification of the Web.

from HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36855258

Mozilla Position about this: https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions/issues/852

#privacy #web #google #browser #drm #mozilla #firefox #opensource #foss #freesoftware #hackernews #webbrowser #openstandard #android #linux