

Netflix HTML5 Video in IE 11 on Windows 8.1 - motowilliams
http://techblog.netflix.com/2013/06/html5-video-in-ie-11-on-windows-81.html

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shmerl
_These extensions are the future of premium video on the web, since they allow
playback of premium video directly in the browser without the need to install
plugins._

No, thanks. Future of video on the web is DRM free. Calling a dying trend "the
future" is an indirect promotion of it, and Netflix can't pretend that they
are neutral or even opposed to DRM when they promote it up to pushing it into
HTML standard.

~~~
recursive
The only reason Netflix appears to support DRM is because they get content
from organizations that demand it.

~~~
shmerl
That's how they present it. However they don't sound convincing. This
announcement is enthusiastic, rather than saying "yeah, we don't really like
what's going on, but our hands are tied, etc. etc.". If they are enthusiastic
about DRM - they are promoting it. So it's reasonable to criticize them for
it.

 _Today, we 're excited to announce, blah, blah_

People who don't like DRM and only use it out of supposedly necessity (bad
excuse if you ask me), won't be excited about it.

Also, Netflix is supposedly streaming some content that they own themselves.
Is it offered DRM free?

~~~
jimbobimbo
"This announcement is enthusiastic, rather than saying..."

Well, Netflix is in the business of renting video, not in the business of
fighting DRM.

~~~
shmerl
I don't argue with that. All I'm saying - they are pro DRM. But when
confronted about it, they try to deny it, and pretend they aren't. Being pro
DRM is bad PR for them. Publishers are at least honest that they support DRM
(out of some stupid reasons). It's not publishers however, but Netflix who
pushes this garbage into the standard. So they have to bear the responsibility
instead of pretending that they have nothing to do with it.

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dave1010uk
Can anyone tell me how are HTML5 "extensions" different to or better than
"plugins" (eg Flash, QuickTime, Silverlight)? Has the line between open
browser / specification and proprietary plugins just been shifted over a bit?

~~~
baddox
The primary user-facing difference is that these "extensions" don't require
additional installation to view content (that is, once all major browsers
support them). From a technical perspective, there could other differences,
like protections in place to sandbox the browser from the rest of the system,
which is much better than requiring the execution of a closed-source
proprietary binary.

~~~
dave1010uk
So if Flash player was built into all major browsers (like it is currently
with Chrome) then that would remove the primary reason.

I thought EME was execution of a closed-source binary blob too. I also thought
some browsers sandbox plugins (I could be wrong).

EME still seems to be just a new plugin specification, with a more limited
API.

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quackerhacker
While I am against DRM, what I do like about this becoming implemented is that
videos can be encrypted in the file system then distributed over HTML5. This
will be good for "private," videos...it's the only positive I can see.

~~~
baddox
What is the distinction between "'private' videos" which are presumably
created by individuals, and privately owned media (like movies) which are
created by corporations?

~~~
quackerhacker
I'm using my own examples here, one of the projects I'm apart of distributes
personal videos over HTML5. Having these _just_ stored on a file system is
vulnerable in a way that a sysadmin could view the video or if the file system
is compromised [the exploit could reveal the video]. Those are what I could
think of off the top of my head.

Having the video encrypted (since Netflix is pushing for it anyways, why not
use it to my benefit), allows me to provide the keys directly to the content
owner for decryption.

~~~
tmzt
Would you do this by creating your own EME in a cross-browser manner?

I guess the built in support for basic encryption would work here (the
mandatory profile).

You could even deliver the symmetric key out-of-band with asymmetric
encryption.

