Not sure I see the issue. We already have identification (the user agent), but it’s easily forged. Useful to know that the user agent claiming it is Apple Podcasts is *actually* Apple Podcasts. Something that adds certainty to the user agent is, surely, helpful. (And to be clear, that’s all that this proposal is).
All podcast hosts either block some downloads, or mark them as suspicious traffic. They use tools like OPAWG or IP lists to help. Why not make a user agent more dependable and less forgable?
The number of downloads from “web browsers” has increased 4x in just two years. It’s very clear that many of these “web browsers” are nothing of the sort. Wouldn’t it be great to know what they actually are?
(There are big problems with technical implementation, as you rightly note - not least, how it would work in a web browser!)
