Re: Encrypted Media proposal (was RE: ISSUE-179: av_param - Chairs Solicit Alternate Proposals or Counter-Proposals)

Henri,

I wanted to response to one comment you made in particular yesterday:

On Feb 24, 2012, at 12:17 AM, Henri Sivonen wrote:

> If users have to use a non-browser app to view DRM content, the DRM
> content may cause lock-in to operating system that the app runs on but
> not to a browser within the operating system. If Netflix worked in
> browser A but not browser B on an operating system that allows
> multiple browsers, this would unlevel the playing field for browser
> competition by making it more likely that users stick to browser A for
> all their browsing use due to Netflix working in browser A not in
> browser B. Thus, it's not clear that it's good for the health of the
> Web to have Netflix with DRM work on the Web platform augmented with a
> lock-in-inducing vendor-specific black box. (Netflix without browser
> lock-in on the Web platform would be totally awesome, of course.)

Netflix, with DRM, is supported today on Firefox and will continue to be. We want to be on as many platforms as possible to provide the best service to our subscribers, and that is one of the motivations for this proposal.
 
This discussion is not about whether DRM-based services are available in all web browsers - they are - it's only about how, technically, that is achieved. The technical details of how don't drive product decisions of whether to support a platform as popular as Firefox.
 
Our proposal is a refactoring of the existing plugin-based solution enabling services to make more use of native browser capabilities whilst leaving only what absolutely has to be left in the "Content Decryption Module". It opens new possibilities for distribution of these capabilities and especially supports platforms like TVs, Blu-ray players etc. in a way that puts applications, not the content decryption module, more in control.

So I hope the proposal can be judged on its technical merits, as a better implementation of something which already exists today.

...Mark

Received on Friday, 24 February 2012 19:56:29 UTC