[Discuss] DRM in HTML5

[dsr at randomstring.org (Dan Ritter)]

On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 07:35:11PM -0400, Tom Metro wrote:
> My initial reaction was that allowing DRM in HTML5 might be more
> beneficial to consumers in the short term. The distributors, like
> Netflix, that are actually implementing the video players will simply
> build or buy (Silverlight) DRM tech, if it is not part of the standard,
> because their content licensing agreements require them to have DRM. If
> an HTML5 standard led to an open source implementation, and brought us
> closer to a universal IP TV client, that will benefit consumers by
> letting them play back content on the device of their choice, even if it
> is an obscure platform.

There's no such thing as effective DRM so long as it consists of shipping
the encrypted product to a player (under the control of the end user)
that has the decryption algorithm and a key.

An open source player is simply easier to modify to produce the
unencrypted copy: at the end, write to a file instead of pushing to a
video display.

You always have to trust your end user not to perform the actions which
will make your DRM useless. Since you have to trust them, you might as
well not spend anything on DRM.

The anti-copying models of the MPAA and RIAA cannot stand against the
combination of three things: digital formats, sufficient storage, and
sufficient bandwidth. 

-dsr-