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Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

techblog.netflix.com

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Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#101

Post by tptacek »

josteink wrote: post #55
artursapek wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix wouldn't be a viable business if not for DRM. Why is everyone so upset? Having the option to use DRM in native web APIs is not a bad thing.

> Netflix wouldn't be a viable business if not for DRM. Why is everyone so upset? Having the option to use DRM in native web APIs is not a bad thing. Because Netflix is freeloading on our open technology to deliver closed content, and putting the cost to support their DRM on us. It's not right. It's not fair. They are fragmenting the web by making "web sites" which are browser and OS-specific. If they want to make cl…

In what sense is Netflix "freeloading"? Where does the free ride stop? Are they allowed to use TCP/IP stacks to deliver DRM? The HTTP protocol? Or is just Mozilla that's the problem?

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#102

Post by sandov »

josteink wrote: post #64
criddell wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought that the only change was that the DRM mechanism was turned into an open standard. How is this worse than before? As someone that occasionally uses Linux, I think it's great that Netflix works there now. Previously, the audience on Linux wasn't worth the development effort for Netflix. Am I missing something? Is this a case where an open standard is a bad thing?

> Am I missing something? Is this a case where an open standard Yes. The bit where this is an "open standard" to implement completely closed, non-standard plugins, which cannot be implemented by reading the spec. With this "open standard" any browser or OS not blessed by Hollywood can't have a full web experience. And I take great issues with that.

Could we "fork the web" or something?. Someone could create a parallel stack of web standards that is fully free/open. For the most part it would be the same as the conventional web standard, but open source browser developers would have something to base their developments on, something like the "OpenWeb Stack". Sorry for my bad english.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#103

Post by tptacek »

shmerl wrote: post #91
artursapek wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix wouldn't be a viable business if not for DRM. Why is everyone so upset? Having the option to use DRM in native web APIs is not a bad thing.

That's false. DRM doesn't enable business. It's not even needed at all.

If that's true, why does every major content provider disagree with you?

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#104

Post by hsivonen »

mmagin wrote: post #5
jasonmp85 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the world was better when Flash and Silverlight were the media of choice for delivering video.

Nevermind that the binary blobs come from pretty much the same place: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Media/EME#Platform_Support (Ok, I guess on Linux it's a blob from a Google-owned company.)

The previous DRM plug-in (Silverlight) was made by Microsoft. The new one (Widevine CDM) is made by Google.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#105

Post by tptacek »

sigmar wrote: post #32
artursapek wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix wouldn't be a viable business if not for DRM. Why is everyone so upset? Having the option to use DRM in native web APIs is not a bad thing.

>Netflix wouldn't be a viable business if not for DRM. Uh, why not? All Netflix series are already getting pirated even with DRM.

Obviously, because if it was as convenient to pirate Netflix videos as it was to view them on Netflix, nobody would subscribe to Netflix, and their business would fail.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#106

Post by YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 »

maldusiecle wrote: post #70
YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 wrote: post #35

Netflix video quality sucks on browsers anyway – at least for movies. Half of them seem to be limited to something which could only be described as "less than DVD quality", some noticeably so. That's the reality for the paying customer – for a “pirate”, most of the movies in HD quality are a quick web search away, without needing to install any programs.

Netflix uses a tiered system for HD video. The lowest price is no HD, the next is HD, and the highest is Ultra HD. You may also need to tweak your Netflix settings, since the default quality level is "Auto," rather than "High." It may be surprising, but many people don't much notice the difference.

Indeed it does, and I'm not in the lowest tier. The quality of video is very fine indeed when watching with, say, a Netflix app on a Sony TV, but I prefer to watch stuff on my desktop in a comfy chair, and for that, Netflix leaves wanting with video bitrate not always even above 1000 kbps.

(Right now, for the movie “Collateral”, the highest bitrate offered is 870 kbps when watching in a browser. I'm almost certain it is way above that on more restricted devices, as that has been the case with other titles in the past.)

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#107

Post by apostacy »

artursapek wrote: post #22
davexunit wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just playing word games. Netflix lobbied for EME so they could serve DRM'd video, end of story.

Netflix wouldn't be a viable business if not for DRM. Why is everyone so upset? Having the option to use DRM in native web APIs is not a bad thing.

I use Netflix, simply because it is slightly more convenient than what I used to do, torrenting. I'm willing to pay for that convenience.

Besides, they said that the Apple Music Store couldn't survive without DRM. And then one day they removed it and nobody even noticed. Now nobody uses DRM when they sell music. Even Spotify don't bother encrypting cached mp3s on your hard drive.

If Netflix switched to unencrypted streams tomorrow, it would have no effect. There is no content that is exclusive to Netflix. As soon as Netflix makes something available, it is immediately ripped losslessly and put on The Pirate Bay.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#108

Post by zanny »

hsivonen wrote: post #97
jasonkostempski wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be better if the platforms that wanted DRM just made their own damn desktop apps, just like they make their own iOS apps, Android apps, Roku apps, smart tv apps, etc. There's no reason for them to be embedded in a browser.

Why would you prefer letting streaming companies have full code execution on you desktop instead of having browsers mediate?

I wouldn't, and they knew that.

They knew the adoption rates for out-of-browser proprietary content viewers were awful. That is why they dedicated resources to usurp the open web.

If Mozilla had fought back, we might have progressed towards the death of the obsolete content model big media wants to keep in place and prevent change in the market. It would have at least been a step in the right direction - instead, the promise of the open Internet was sabotaged, and big media gets to be more "convenient" at its sacrifice.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#109

Post by shmerl »

tptacek wrote: post #103
shmerl wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's false. DRM doesn't enable business. It's not even needed at all.

If that's true, why does every major content provider disagree with you?

They don't disagree. The usage of DRM has nothing to do with normal reasons.

See https://www.gog.com/forum/general/introducing_gogcom_drmfree...

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