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This is why we have to fight against it at a much lower level. HTTPS is a prime example of this. It effectively "locks" the data channel or pipe from the source (FB/Instagram/Google servers) to your viewing device (screen, and in a lot of cases, locked-down web-browser) making it effectively a dumb terminal. If MITM-type techologies were allowed to exist safely and controlled by the user, we could be seeing a proliferation of an ecosystem geared around breaking and integrating-with the walled-gardens. I'd go out on a limb and say that HTTPS is one of the biggest hurdles we face when it comes to keeping the web open. With it firmly in-place, we are forced to beg for "scraps" in terms of these walled-gardens giving us API/Integration points.

Edit. Grammar.



This argument is silly in the presence of open-source web browsers that can accept extensions.

> proliferation of an ecosystem geared around breaking and integrating-with the walled-gardens

Youtube-dl works just fine. What kind of things did you have in mind that people might want but are unachievable because of https?


> This argument is silly in the presence of open-source web browsers that can accept extensions.

The only browser like that with any meaningful adoption is slowly dying, as its parent organization is spinning like a headless chicken.


I'm sure many would happily put an end to Youtube-dl (and other such tooling), and for some the copyright infringement argument is just a cover for their issue with youtube-dl basically punching a hole in their garden's wall.

As a side note, imo the state of the copyright laws also does no good to the openness of the web.




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