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After playing around with immediate mode GUIs in WebAssembly, I can envision a future which renders any kind of content blocker obsolete. The internet could be

After playing around with immediate mode GUIs in WebAssembly, I can envision a future which renders any kind of content blocker obsolete. The internet could be turned into cable television. I don't want to sound overly pessimistic, but it seems very plausible that this is the future we will eventually end up with.

maxkwallace 6y ago
I worry a lot about this but if this is the price of competing with the Google/Apple duopoly maybe it's worth it.
tmccrary55 6y ago
Wasm has a pretty simple execution model, wouldn’t be hard to write something that preprocesses wasm code during load, similar to what you can do with java classloaders.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  Easily preventable using encrypted wasm modules.
  - roblabla 6y ago
    I don't think WASM can write to its code memory to self-decrypt. At some point, the WASM has to create a DOM node containing the decrypted script, at which point you can process the code.
    - pjmlp 6y ago
      Now that is an idea for a prof of concept.
- drran 6y ago
  We can handle Wasm like Flash: declare it obsolete and then reinvent it again.
  - blackoil 6y ago
    Declaring something obsolete doesn't make it so. Flash went away because of iPhone and rise of mobile app and still it took about a decade for it to be irrelevant. Without a similar tectonic shift, it would take longer.
sam0x17 6y ago
The thing with WASM though is you can always intercept it at the edges where it interacts with the DOM. The usual ad blocking tactics of either deleting particular arrangements of DOM nodes, blocking specific js/wasm payloads, and blocking specific domain names will still be unaffected. The tactics don't even need to change.
- nyanpasu64 6y ago
  If an entire UI (content plus ads) is drawn with wasm onto a canvas (the way Qt WebAssembly does it), it will be impossible to use CSS to hide ads, and possibly more difficult to modify the script to disable the ad-loading functions.
  - CGamesPlay 6y ago
    Google would probably not feature you very high in search results, though, since your website has no indexable text.
    - vbezhenar 6y ago
      If this technique would become popular, Google will OCR it just like it runs JS.
      - ath92 6y ago
        This technique is essentially the same as websites made entirely in Flash back in the day. And back then, the only way to have Google index your site was to provide a separate (hidden) version that used normal, semantic HTML.
    - emilsedgh 6y ago
      They can use it only for video players that'll autoplay for example.
    - anoncake 6y ago
      Google is an advertising company. It would make sure there is a way to get your site indexed, perhaps by providing an alternate machine-readable version just to them. As a bonus, that version would not be available to potential competitors.
flohofwoe 6y ago
WASM modules can be blocked by domain just like regular ads. Just block the whole thing, problem solved.
- tinus_hn 6y ago
  Just like you can easily set your browser to refuse all cookies. Problem solved, now you can’t browse half the internet.

maxkwallace 6y ago

I worry a lot about this but if this is the price of competing with the Google/Apple duopoly maybe it's worth it.

tmccrary55 6y ago

Wasm has a pretty simple execution model, wouldn’t be hard to write something that preprocesses wasm code during load, similar to what you can do with java classloaders.

pjmlp 6y ago
Easily preventable using encrypted wasm modules.
- roblabla 6y ago
  I don't think WASM can write to its code memory to self-decrypt. At some point, the WASM has to create a DOM node containing the decrypted script, at which point you can process the code.
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    Now that is an idea for a prof of concept.
drran 6y ago
We can handle Wasm like Flash: declare it obsolete and then reinvent it again.
- blackoil 6y ago
  Declaring something obsolete doesn't make it so. Flash went away because of iPhone and rise of mobile app and still it took about a decade for it to be irrelevant. Without a similar tectonic shift, it would take longer.

sam0x17 6y ago

The thing with WASM though is you can always intercept it at the edges where it interacts with the DOM. The usual ad blocking tactics of either deleting particular arrangements of DOM nodes, blocking specific js/wasm payloads, and blocking specific domain names will still be unaffected. The tactics don't even need to change.

nyanpasu64 6y ago
If an entire UI (content plus ads) is drawn with wasm onto a canvas (the way Qt WebAssembly does it), it will be impossible to use CSS to hide ads, and possibly more difficult to modify the script to disable the ad-loading functions.
- CGamesPlay 6y ago
  Google would probably not feature you very high in search results, though, since your website has no indexable text.
  - vbezhenar 6y ago
    If this technique would become popular, Google will OCR it just like it runs JS.
    - ath92 6y ago
      This technique is essentially the same as websites made entirely in Flash back in the day. And back then, the only way to have Google index your site was to provide a separate (hidden) version that used normal, semantic HTML.
  - emilsedgh 6y ago
    They can use it only for video players that'll autoplay for example.
  - anoncake 6y ago
    Google is an advertising company. It would make sure there is a way to get your site indexed, perhaps by providing an alternate machine-readable version just to them. As a bonus, that version would not be available to potential competitors.

flohofwoe 6y ago

WASM modules can be blocked by domain just like regular ads. Just block the whole thing, problem solved.

tinus_hn 6y ago
Just like you can easily set your browser to refuse all cookies. Problem solved, now you can’t browse half the internet.