Re: <nettime> Open letter against DRM control of web browsers - Seeking

[Morlock Elloi <morlockelloi@gmail.com>]

Corporations - those who can pay engineers - have always controlled web 
browsers. For example, look at the embedded SSL certificates in your 
browser - who do you think decided to include exactly those? Did anyone 
ask you (public) for opinion?

The idea that this can be fought through voting inside the body 
primarily funded by browser makers and headed by aging luminaries is 
ridiculous: W3C is on the way of becoming completely irrelevant.

The disturbing trend is the same as in the security and other high-tech 
industries: expectation that begging works, and exhausting one's 
energies in begging (misapplied notion of 'democratic process' in 
situations without any semblance of democracy).

To gain control of browsers, you need to start using weapons: compilers. 
Compile browsers yourself, and no one can control you. When there were 
significant non-commercial efforts to produce browsers (anyone remembers 
Microsoft's attempts to *sell* Explorer?), there was no need to beg. As 
these efforts have almost completely folded into commercial enterprises, 
Microsoft can sell the stuff again.

The other option is to build all these desired freedoms into laws, so 
browser manufacturing becomes regulated by the state.

There doesn't seem to be working middle ground.


On 4/13/17, 3:49, parminder wrote:

> A new WWW standard seeks to enable corporations to control web browsers

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