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This is why techies will not be able to defeat WEI. It will be the replacement for CAPTCHA. Every place using a CAPTCHA now will switch to requiring cryptogra

This is why techies will not be able to defeat WEI. It will be the replacement for CAPTCHA. Every place using a CAPTCHA now will switch to requiring cryptographic attestation that you're running a clean copy of FAANG stack on approved hardware. The only effective non-human bots will be physical robots using the analog hole.

firtoz 3y ago
What is WEI?
- cute_boi 3y ago
  DRM of Web . https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/googles-web-integrity-api-sounds-like-drm-for-the-web/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/googles-web-integrit...
doylio 3y ago
There is a knee-jerk aversion to the word blockchain on hackernews, but crypto folks have been thinking a lot about decentralized sybil resistance. If the choice comes down to WEI or a blockchain based solution, how would you feel about that option?
- GhostWhisperer 3y ago
  what does a blockchain bring into the discussion that you think parent would be okay with? if the choice comes down to two options, what makes you think it would be between wei and blockchain i think there might be some confusion here simply because parent used the work cryptographic, but this has nothing to do with blockchain
chrismarlow9 3y ago
It will get bypassed easily. The lengths spammers will go to for "organic" advertising that is automated doesn't really have limits. Fine, add WEI, spammers will write code that literally issues native events to a real browser on a farm of devices. I actually saw this discussion in the WEI proposal GitHub regarding Chrome extensions. What gets a pass? Captcha was never really the limiting factor for spammers. It was generating human readable content at scale (comments, reviews, responses, etc). But with AI that's not an issue anymore.
- hinkley 3y ago
  For E2E testing you'll have to allow Selenium or something else to drive the browser, and they'll just figure out how much they can disable in a browser to pack as many requests per second onto a given amount of hardware.
- alaxapta7 3y ago
  > It will get bypassed easily. For now. But we're slowly walking towards the future where you can only consume web using an official and conformant browser running on a locked-down platform. That'd make it considerably harder for spammers, but of course spam isn't what this is about, it's more like a cherry on top.
  - chrismarlow9 3y ago
    I think it will be more of a nationalized identification which is scary. It's the only way I can think of to actually get rid of spam at a "low entry barrier" I see it like everything else we use for communication. Still junk mail, still robo calls, still spam texts. And you will still get spam under your nationalized id. But YOU(the individual) won't be allowed to do the same. Edit: on a brighter side with high capacity drives being cheap and various wireless protocols sneaker net might be a thing. Your info won't be up to date but maybe that's not so bad, no doom scrolling. Beware the honeypots though.
    - MichaelZuo 3y ago
      Yes, one you get to needing a fake passport, or other equally stringent ID, from a list of authorized countries, the price per spam bot will basically be too high for any viable commercial spam. This might actually be a pretty enjoyable experience for a lot of users. If every user can be assured that every communciation is actually from a real person, or a real organization that can be sued, or at least a fake personality that someone put tens of thousands of dollars behind.
ChatGTP 3y ago
Aka the end of the open web. Remember net neutrality ?
itissid 3y ago
Its only if the cost for a FAANG stack is high. Cost of tech is always decreasing. If you think you are going to have a FAANG stack protected by crypto hardware attestation you will be beaten by the next guy who never needs to do it.

firtoz 3y ago

What is WEI?

cute_boi 3y ago
DRM of Web . https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/googles-web-integrity-api-sounds-like-drm-for-the-web/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/googles-web-integrit...

doylio 3y ago

There is a knee-jerk aversion to the word blockchain on hackernews, but crypto folks have been thinking a lot about decentralized sybil resistance. If the choice comes down to WEI or a blockchain based solution, how would you feel about that option?

GhostWhisperer 3y ago
what does a blockchain bring into the discussion that you think parent would be okay with? if the choice comes down to two options, what makes you think it would be between wei and blockchain i think there might be some confusion here simply because parent used the work cryptographic, but this has nothing to do with blockchain

chrismarlow9 3y ago

It will get bypassed easily. The lengths spammers will go to for "organic" advertising that is automated doesn't really have limits. Fine, add WEI, spammers will write code that literally issues native events to a real browser on a farm of devices. I actually saw this discussion in the WEI proposal GitHub regarding Chrome extensions. What gets a pass? Captcha was never really the limiting factor for spammers. It was generating human readable content at scale (comments, reviews, responses, etc). But with AI that's not an issue anymore.

hinkley 3y ago
For E2E testing you'll have to allow Selenium or something else to drive the browser, and they'll just figure out how much they can disable in a browser to pack as many requests per second onto a given amount of hardware.
alaxapta7 3y ago
> It will get bypassed easily. For now. But we're slowly walking towards the future where you can only consume web using an official and conformant browser running on a locked-down platform. That'd make it considerably harder for spammers, but of course spam isn't what this is about, it's more like a cherry on top.
- chrismarlow9 3y ago
  I think it will be more of a nationalized identification which is scary. It's the only way I can think of to actually get rid of spam at a "low entry barrier" I see it like everything else we use for communication. Still junk mail, still robo calls, still spam texts. And you will still get spam under your nationalized id. But YOU(the individual) won't be allowed to do the same. Edit: on a brighter side with high capacity drives being cheap and various wireless protocols sneaker net might be a thing. Your info won't be up to date but maybe that's not so bad, no doom scrolling. Beware the honeypots though.
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    Yes, one you get to needing a fake passport, or other equally stringent ID, from a list of authorized countries, the price per spam bot will basically be too high for any viable commercial spam. This might actually be a pretty enjoyable experience for a lot of users. If every user can be assured that every communciation is actually from a real person, or a real organization that can be sued, or at least a fake personality that someone put tens of thousands of dollars behind.

ChatGTP 3y ago

Aka the end of the open web. Remember net neutrality ?

itissid 3y ago

Its only if the cost for a FAANG stack is high. Cost of tech is always decreasing. If you think you are going to have a FAANG stack protected by crypto hardware attestation you will be beaten by the next guy who never needs to do it.