Comment on Any idea what Google are doing? Is this because I dont use Chrome (use Firefox)? I've no adblockers.
killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 1 year agoIt really is given that they’ve willingly entered a game of cat and mouse and chosen to assume the role of a blind, limbless mouse.
As others have said before me, I feel for the poor engineers who have to implement this stuff as any technical solution short of DRM is provably impractical and unworkable.
I feel for the poor engineers who have to implement this stuff
I don’t. They had every opportunity to do the ethical thing and refuse to implement it, but didn’t.
On a related note, the industry norms need to be changed such that software engineers should be licensed Professional Engineers, should be unionized, or both.
I also work in industry as a software engineer, tech lead, and occasional eng manager and haven’t seen anyone do this over several decades.
I don’t think many people, software engineers included, are troubled by YouTube wanting to monetize their content or defending their right to do so. It’s opting for such an easily bypassed method that makes this such a chore for the implementor.
It’s also bold to assume they might not have suggested, prototyped or specced other solutions to this problem but were still tasked with this one for whatever reason. Either way, I’d rather assume good intent and high locus than assume they are “trapped” in to implementing software that defies their own moral beliefs.
as any technical solution short of DRM is provably impractical and unworkable.
Oh, that’s why WebDRM.
DRM isn’t effective on its own, it needs law with severe punishment to survive
Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 year ago
I’m not sure what you mean by “short of DRM”, because YouTube already does what it can to prevent unauthorised clients accessing it. (Have you seen how unreliable “YouTube downloaders” can be, especially for very long videos or in resolutions above HD?) But ultimately the flaw in any DRM-style solution is that the end result still needs to be able to be played back on client-controlled systems, and that is always going to provide an avenue for exploitation. It can’t be avoided.
killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I use an automated YouTube downloader as part of my media lab and have had a 100% success rate for downloads over several years, so, sincerely, I don’t know what you mean.
And yes, my argument wasn’t that DRM is flawless, just that it’s a feasible next step in Google trying to achieve their purpose.