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I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

blog.samuelmaddock.com

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Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#231

Post by jedberg »

jrockway wrote: post #177
tiraniddo wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, blame the movie studios, record labels etc. They're the one which require asinine DRM support for web browsers. Google/Microsoft/Apple/Adobe want to support media content, but to do so requires towing the line with the media companies otherwise they refuse to license the content (at least in HD+). Having worked with various DRM teams I know that they have to treat their code as if its the most secret code in the…

I'm pretty sure some method Netflix uses is broken anyway. People don't seem to have trouble uploading 4k rips to Usenet. (Though I haven't actually checked recently.) We were sold DRM as "the evil legacy studios are evil and make us use DRM". Well, now that Netflix produces their own content and it's still DRM'd... I guess that isn't really the reasoning.

Netflix doesn’t make most of their content. They just have exclusive license to show it. The studio that makes it still demands DRM.

In the rare case of content that is actually made by Netflix, it’s easier to just put DRM on it, because otherwise every system dedicated to encoding and playback would have to have a code branch that was special for non-DRM content. It would be a maintenance nightmare. It’s a lot easier to push all content through the same pipelines.

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#232

Post by geofft »

whatusername wrote: post #213
geofft wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the platforms all made it so that you have to solder a new chip into your phone before you can play DRM content, there would be a lot less DRM. I mean, yes, but why would they do that? > Wouldn't that create a huge market opportunity for new DRM-free studios, who would then out-compete the traditional ones by being available on all platforms instead of only on Insecure Expensive Proprietary Slow Cableco Platform…

Is that a reference to the travesty of a wheel of time pilot episode? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4450372/

Yeah, I was trying to think of the most awful thing that superficially seems like a substitute good for Game of Thrones :)

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#234

Post by vkaku »

I'm pretty sure there are options, none of which are efficient, but here they are:

1. Firefox consumes the Widevine as a plugin, and the way to load that may be a straightforward one, through an interface.

2. Support a different DRM scheme that has an open interface and is popular

3. Disassemble Widevine or talk to hackers who've understood it. Clean room disassembly is legal in many parts of the world.

4. Don't drop this project, but put up a placeholder and evangelise better DRM standards. Pretty sure that if it involves crypto and it's not open source, it is an attractive target with an exploit in the works. That's what it is going to lead to, and by then you'd already have a working implementation.

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#235

Post by waynecochran »

mikeryan wrote: post #195
gcb0 wrote: post #19

let's address the elephant in the room. Google got the authority from everyone here who accepted chrome and IE DRM by default, to the point that even Firefox was forced to give in, so you all could be sedated by Netflix and other DRMed content.

I'm not sure it's an elephant. I work in this space and I think the EME path has been a fairly elegant solution for a lot of what was preventing us from being able to use HTML5 video, including DRM but also live streaming and its ilk with HLS/Dash and being able to quickly implement new codecs and transports. Having to fall back to a flash player was never ideal. If you want to make an argument that DRM is bad, or, m…

> Having to fall back to a flash player was never ideal.

Flash had/has to die!

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#236

Post by smaddock »

jhasse wrote: post #196
geofft wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did Metastream ask for a license to redistribute the binary? We don't know anything about the conversation with Widevine other than that they wrote, "I'm sorry but we're not supporting an open source solution like this". They clearly are supporting an open source solution like Firefox. So what is the difference, and can Metastream be less "like this" and more like Firefox?

I would guess, that they fear, that Metastream could implement a feature, where only one of the users has paid for the content and streams it to his peers.

Those were my initial thoughts, Google misunderstanding how Metastream works. It only sends playback information, no streaming of video/audio content. Each user needs to be logged into their own session on each web service.

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#238

Post by syn0byte »

jhasse wrote: post #196
geofft wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did Metastream ask for a license to redistribute the binary? We don't know anything about the conversation with Widevine other than that they wrote, "I'm sorry but we're not supporting an open source solution like this". They clearly are supporting an open source solution like Firefox. So what is the difference, and can Metastream be less "like this" and more like Firefox?

I would guess, that they fear, that Metastream could implement a feature, where only one of the users has paid for the content and streams it to his peers.

They have complete access to the source to verify its function. They just don't because fuck you that's why. What are you going to do about it anyway, cry on HN and Twitter?

Mozilla is Mozilla and can mount a defense so they get a license deal.

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#239

Post by sli »

> ...the creators of the open source browser Chrome, ...

This assumption is a mistake the author is making. Chrome is, for all practical purposes, closed-source and proprietary. It's Chromium that is open-source. So far as I know, Chromium does not have Widevine included by default.

Re: I tried creating a web browser, and Google blocked me

#240

Post by smaddock »

peterwwillis wrote: post #221

Is this a late april fools joke? "Metastream: Watch streaming media with friends." He's complaining that they won't let him use DRM. But his project's purpose is to literally broadcast media to your friends. DRM exists to prevent that.

It doesn't. It transmits playback state, but doesn't stream any video or audio content. Each user needs to be logged into web services on their own client.
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