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The Internet is getting tougher and more user-unfriendly😾
As we've seen with YouTube's crackdown on ad blockers (the reason for the existence of my YouTube demo player), website
operators are getting more desperate for revenue and they are also looking for ways to lock you in. The unfortunate thing
is that the "security features" written into our web browsers are being used against us. Maybe that was always the intent
though I'm sure that the developers who work hard to maintain the code bases we all depend on are innocent of this.
Historically, developers have always been liberty-minded and they would be offended by the idea that they are the
unwitting pawns of "The Man" whom they have always fought against. Yeah, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt but,
at the same time, I'm sure that many of them behave exactly like tyrants when the shoe is on their foot. For example, the
push for every site to be HTTPS has these same "liberty-minded" developers acting like gate-keepers who look down on
anyone who prefers to just use HTTP. What kind of neanderthal uses HTTP? Are you not concerned for the safety of your
users? Ah, the old "safety" excuse. It's for the kids, right? The truth is that HTTPS is unnecessary for most websites and
it is another tool in the toolbox of those who would limit free speech.
The primitive state of copyright laws in an age of unlimited access to information is another sore point. The gate-keepers
would love for you to pay for every word you read but it is difficult to contain information which wants to be free.
Nevertheless, they keep trying and they will do anything to make you dependent on them. Paywalls are just one small part of
that. Now, I don't begrudge people for wanting to get paid for their work. I respect paywalls and I would never consider
hacking into a server to steal someone's property. However, I do begrudge attempts to leverage my own machinery against me.
I use a web browser to gain access to information and I despise those who would use its built-in software features as a
bludgeon to keep me away from information that wants to be free. Put up a paywall if you like. However, if your business
model requires you to shove ads in my face or to steal processing cycles from my CPU, then you are an enemy. It is difficult
for most people to comprehend the many ways that web browsers actually work against them because somebody running a website
wants to make sure that they stay inside the curated garden and not wander afield. A very simple example is copying an image
or some text which can be blocked by the browser in response to a server setting or some CSS or whatever. I'm sure you've
seen this sort of trick from time to time. Using the developer toolbox can sometimes work but there are nastier tricks
that can prevent even that.
My position is this: if I can see it or hear it in my web browser then I should be able to copy it or download it. I allow
some slack for the likes of Netflix because they're not pretending to offer "free access" to anything. They demand my money
up front and I respect that. YouTube does not get the same respect. If it plays in my browser without money changing hands
then I'm the one in control, not YouTube. They can scream about "copyright theft" all they like. If they don't want me to
share then they shouldn't be allowed to share either. Keep your crap in a vault somewhere but don't expect me to be
nice when you offer "free access" and then bitch about me taking that literally.
Some readers might note a smidgeon of hypocrisy when I say that I respect paywalls but, at the same time, I help
myself to movies and TV shows from websites which are clearly guilty of copyright theft since the material is not
normally available without paying. I won't argue the point. I'm a hypocrite but I like free stuff. The irony is that some
of these pirate websites are even more stingy with their "free access" than YouTube. It's a battle and a half sometimes to
liberate material which was stolen in the first place. There's plenty of room for hypocrites on the copyright bandwagon.
My mission is simple. It is to liberate that which is supposedly "free" but is being kept not free by virtue of the
features that are present in the web browser. If I want to watch a video on my own equipment under my own terms and
conditions then I ought to be able to do that. If it means "breaking" the web browser to liberate the material then I will
create the tools to do that. I'm not in any position to modify and compile the browser code. That would be too large of a
task. I have to somehow work both outside of and within the browser. This is the point of building a proxy server which I
can run on my own system and which will conform to my own needs. The proxy server acts as an intermediary between the
website which wants to block my access and the browser which needs to be told to shut up and let me go about my business.
Then all I have to do is write some HTML and some Javascript to tell the browser to go get what I want from where
I want without any bullshit. That's it in a nutshell. I invite you to follow me on my journey. Liberate your browser from
the tyranny of the Internet.
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