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How long until YouTube figures out how to block all of this stuff like Piped and Invidious etc.? I feel like a better answer would be alternative platforms.

by ilaksh 3y ago

eek2121 3y ago
impossible without also blocking end users or requiring premium. even if they required a login, the video can be scraped. They have been working towards requiring chrome, but that won’t work unless they close source it and lock down developer tools and apis, which would be a death sentence for chrome.
Gareth321 3y ago
It would mean blocking the billions of embedded YouTube videos scattered across the world in websites and emails and apps. It would be a catastrophic own-goal. That said, there are still many ways for them to enshittify their service. I worry that in the next few years they’re going to start splicing ads mid-stream. That’s much harder to block.
atentaten 3y ago
When WEI rolls out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Environment_Integrity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Environment_Integrity reply
dceddia 3y ago
The unfortunate answer is that it’s coming, and in the form of the Web Environment Integrity API, aka device attestation. If/when they manage to deploy this to enough devices, they will be able to restrict viewing to only allow ”blessed” clients. It needs hardware-level support, and that has been rolling out for maybe 10+ years now in the form of TPM modules and such. The future they’re aiming for is that unless you’re using an approved (unmodified) browser on an approved (unmodified) device, you get nothing. It would basically turn large swaths of the internet into a walled garden overnight.
- treyd 3y ago
  I don't know how much sway it has in this but didn't the W3C signal opposition to the WEI effort? And it's possible the antitrust lawsuits will have more influence on their audacity in this matter.
axelthegerman 3y ago
Fully agreed. While I applaud the effort of making YouTube less hostile and invasive, the only real solution is to stop using it. But then I know people want to have their cake and eat it too - let Google pay for all the hosting and bandwidth but want to use alternative clients

How long until YouTube figures out how to block all of this stuff like Piped and Invidious etc.? I feel like a better answer would be alternative platforms.

by ilaksh 3y ago

How long until YouTube figures out how to block all of this stuff like Piped and Invidious etc.? I feel like a better answer would be alternative platforms.

eek2121 3y ago

impossible without also blocking end users or requiring premium. even if they required a login, the video can be scraped. They have been working towards requiring chrome, but that won’t work unless they close source it and lock down developer tools and apis, which would be a death sentence for chrome.

Gareth321 3y ago

It would mean blocking the billions of embedded YouTube videos scattered across the world in websites and emails and apps. It would be a catastrophic own-goal. That said, there are still many ways for them to enshittify their service. I worry that in the next few years they’re going to start splicing ads mid-stream. That’s much harder to block.

atentaten 3y ago

When WEI rolls out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Environment_Integrity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Environment_Integrity reply

dceddia 3y ago

The unfortunate answer is that it’s coming, and in the form of the Web Environment Integrity API, aka device attestation. If/when they manage to deploy this to enough devices, they will be able to restrict viewing to only allow ”blessed” clients. It needs hardware-level support, and that has been rolling out for maybe 10+ years now in the form of TPM modules and such. The future they’re aiming for is that unless you’re using an approved (unmodified) browser on an approved (unmodified) device, you get nothing. It would basically turn large swaths of the internet into a walled garden overnight.

treyd 3y ago
I don't know how much sway it has in this but didn't the W3C signal opposition to the WEI effort? And it's possible the antitrust lawsuits will have more influence on their audacity in this matter.

axelthegerman 3y ago

Fully agreed. While I applaud the effort of making YouTube less hostile and invasive, the only real solution is to stop using it. But then I know people want to have their cake and eat it too - let Google pay for all the hosting and bandwidth but want to use alternative clients