Brightcove Retreats from HTML5
A Brightcove representative says the company is backing away from HTML5 & pushing their SDKs for native iOS & Android apps instead. In the article, the spokesperson cites advantages of native experiences, including that customers can install DRM. What this article seems to say is that lack of DRM is one of the main reasons one of the major video content delivery companies is pursuing proprietary solutions instead of HTML5. (Link: http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/brightcove-retreats-html5-pushes-refreshed-sdks-native-android-ios-apps/2013-03-19)
That’s wonderful if they wish to create their own proprietary app – I wish them luck but how is it even possible that an open standard could consider anything that would even make it easier for a few users to reduce the openness of the web. HTML has always allowed those who were not satisfied with it to call on proprietary solutions like flash. At that point it becomes the website developer’s “problem” to properly present content to the devices and operating systems. The overwhelming majority of HTML users (developers as well as end users) want flash- like capabilities to be more accessible but only a very small and shrinking group of content providers, in an effort to maintain an archaic business model, wish to have the ability to control the accessibility. Any work towards making it easier for someone to control accessibility is work against the very reason the W3C exists.
Dale,
You say that “lack of DRM is one of the main reasons one of the major video content delivery companies is pursuing proprietary solutions”.
However, the DRM system that Brightcove want to install and access through something like EME is a proprietary solution.
Yours,
Duncan