The New Browser War: Does Fair Use Kill the Open Web? (A Summary – Because I Have to)

Right, so some clowns are whining about how browser extensions that summarize articles using “fair use” are apparently ruining everything for content creators. Apparently, letting people *read* things is a problem now if it doesn’t directly line someone’s pockets. The gist? News aggregators and browsers (looking at you, Arc) are building in features to condense articles without sending traffic to the original source. Publishers are screaming bloody murder about copyright and lost ad revenue.

They’re claiming this is theft, even though fair use exists for a goddamn reason – things like commentary, criticism, parody…and yeah, sometimes just making information accessible. But no, let’s ignore that because *profit*. The article points out the hypocrisy of publishers happily leeching content from others for decades while simultaneously demanding everyone else pay them tribute. It’s all about control and squeezing every last cent out of people.

The author correctly notes this is just another iteration of the endless battle between open access and walled gardens, and it’s probably going to end badly. Expect more legal battles, more extension blocking, and ultimately, a shittier experience for users. Because that’s always how these things go. They want you locked into their ecosystems, paying them directly or viewing ads until your brain melts.

Honestly? It’s exhausting. Just…exhausting. And predictably stupid.

Read the original article here (if you dare)

Related Anecdote: Back in ’98, I had to spend three days reverse-engineering a website’s JavaScript just so our users could scrape *basic* product pricing. They’d deliberately obfuscated it to prevent comparison shopping. Three days! And for what? So they could charge an extra five bucks for a toaster oven? People are unbelievable.

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