Re:Cory Doctorow: Interoperability Can Save the Open Web
by matheusmoreira on Wednesday September 06, 2023 @01:50PM
(#37408536)
> The web was meant to be accessed by automation.
Completely agree.
Completely agree.
Tangent: there's a reason the browser is/used to be called an user agent. The web was meant to be accessed by automation. When I use a script to browse the web for me with curl, that script/curl is as much my agent as the browser is.
I see how remote attestation and other bot detection/prevention techniques make it cheaper for you to run the service the way you do. But the flip side is, those techniques will get everyone stuck using shitty, anti-ergonomic browsers and apps, whose entire UX is designed to best monetize the average person at every opportunity. In this reality, it wouldn't be possible to even start a service like yours without joining some BigCo that can handle the contractual load of interacting with every other business entity...
(Also need I remind everyone, that while the first customers of remote attestation are the DRM-ed media vendors, the second customer is your bank, and all the other banks.)