The realistic path off looks like this, I think:
* I use Bluesky to chat as a Twitter replacement, which gets me into the Fediverse and gets me a PDS
* I use my PDS to store my payment details, giving me a (at first client-side) way to submit stored payment details that feels similar to storing it in the browser, but stores it in my "server"
* From there, it's a natural step to giving the retailer a token that can be used to pull payment details from my PDS; early adopter retailers are incentivized to do this because it frees them from the burden of storing and updating PII/PCI
* After some subset of users and retailers do this, users see the benefit of controlling their data as a viable alternative to some of the worst user-hostile patterns, e.g. the New York Times' "we don't have a cancel subscription page, you have to call an 800 number" nonsense.
* To the extent that storing PCI/PII in a PDS is as easy as storing it in the browser but with perceived additional benefits, user demand drives wider adoption
* Once it's technically feasible for sites to maintain their business model without storing any PII/PCI, it is much more realistic to write laws that proscribe it effectively for those users who choose that
FWIW, I've been able to cancel my NYT subscription with only a web form since I first subscribed in 2020. It works, and I use it every year. Some years there were several weeks before I got the discounted price again.
I wonder how many years need to pass after a company removes a user-hostile pattern before it should stop being lambasted for it. I don't know how long they did what you say, but I could see that 5 years might not yet be enough.
> I wonder how many years need to pass after a company removes a user-hostile pattern before it should stop being lambasted for it.
Why would there be a statute of limitations on this. A company doesn’t have an inherent right to customers. A lot of us gave up on Windows with XP (a second strike, after ME). Maybe it’s better now, maybe not, but why would I be motivated to give a company who screwed up already (due to making choices I hate, not just incompetence) another chance? NYT absolutely permanently lost customers by placing revenue above civility; which of us benefits from hoping people forget that?
You missed the point.
That's okay.