Here's the thing though: if someone else held the keys, the scenario would be the same unless there was no safe browsing protection. And if there were no safe browsing protection, we'd be trading one ill for another; small business owners facing a much steeper curve to compete vs. everyone being at more risk from malware actors.

I honestly don't immediately know how to weigh those risks against each other, but I'll note that this community likely underestimates the second one. Most web users are not nearly as tech- or socially-savvy as the average HN reader and the various methods of getting someone to a malware subdomain are increasingly sophisticated.