They put their brand before user security and sustainability. And still have the gall to claim to be ethical.

Wait wait wait. Where does Vivaldi say that in any way? On the contrary, they're pretty damned clear about

Their brand https://vivaldi.com/for-a-better-web/

Vivaldi is headquartered In Norway, proudly employee-owned, with no external investors pulling the strings. This means we make decisions that are best for you, not for shareholders’ profit. We build the browser we want to use, listening to our users to create a web experience that’s free, powerful, and uniquely yours.

Their user security https://vivaldi.com/privacy/browser/

We strictly protect the security of any and all personal information you provide to us while using Vivaldi products and services. We do not share or sell information to any third party and we proactively protect all user data from disclosure, with the only exception being if requested by legitimate law agencies with a court order.

and their sustainability https://umatechnology.org/why-vivaldis-anti-ai-browser-is-great-news-for-humanity/

So I'm sorry, but your own comment sounds absurd because it lacks any proof thereof.

None are so cursed as those who fail to learn from history.

No disagreement there, but Vivaldi isn't repeating anything that's been tried before. Vivaldi is an employee owned company that wants to succeed, wants to offer the best interface, security and features to the general public it can whilst simultaneously keeping itself uniquely true to its values and survival. Gee, so horrible of it to want to scrape a living for its employee owners. Ridiculousness indeed.