Security News > 2023 > August > Maker of Chrome extension with 300,000+ users tells of constant pressure to sell out

"I'm fortunate to have a job that pays well enough to allow me to keep my moral compass and ignore all of these propositions. I realize that not everyone has the same financial security so hopefully this thread would shed some light on what kind of pressure is put on extension developers."

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"Many years ago there was a Chrome extension called simply Hover Zoom," said Anashkin.

"The Chrome Web Store is requiring me to justify the purpose of every permission that my extension uses, but I don't see that exposed anywhere to end users," he said.

Simeon Vincent, who previously served as developer advocate on Google's Chrome extension team, told The Register in June that he was bullish on the architectural and policy changes accompanying Manifest v3, the Chrome extension platform revision that has been underway for several years.

"Assuming a legal responsibility without even being paid? I would have to shut down my extension if this was the case. It's also not hard to imagine that the situation would attack blackmailers who would threaten to sue on the grounds of violating the regulation, if I don't agree to sell the extension. The US legal system would bankrupt people even on the winning side of the conflict." .

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/08/11/chrome_extension_developer_pressure/