

#CancelNetflix: Arrested Development isn't the only thing they screwed up - mwcampbell
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/node/2279

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jljljl
Let's assume Netflix can't operate without some form of copy protection on
their streaming videos.

Can someone explain, clearly and unsensationally, why this is ok when done
with plugins like Silverlight, but not ok when done using DRM in HTML5?

I'm actually looking for an explanation.

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shmerl
Firstly they can operate without any DRM. Secondly DRM is never OK. The
problem with putting it into the standard is in prolonging the life of this
sick trend.

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calgoo
Also, the plugin is a users choice to install. The DRM in the HTML5 specs
would be deeply incorporated inside the navigators codebase. It should be a
choice, not an obligation. If you are like me, and try to keep the proprietary
stuff to a minimum on some of my laptops, then I would not use this version of
FF/Chrome. I would have to use a forked version without the DRM specs (which i
think would be a way of sticking it to the W3C).

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jljljl
Thank you, this is a good explanation.

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ChrisAntaki
Content publishers would not allow Netflix to stream unencrypted videos.

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christianbryant
The point is that a corporation really ought not be the one that determines
things like this for something that has up to now been a fairly open standard.

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ChrisAntaki
Ah, so you'd prefer that plugins continued to exist, to differentiate the open
standards and the DRM?

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mwcampbell
The DRM extensions are just as proprietary as the plugins they replace. And
the Microsoft DRM extension, at least, is quite likely to go far too deep into
the OS (see also
[http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html](http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html)).

