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Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

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Re: Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

#91

Post by thezilch »

wmf wrote: post #81
weavejester wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you equate DRM with subscriptions? It's perfectly possible to have subscriptions to content without DRM.

A DRM-free subscription service would immediately lead to a ripper tool that would download everything in one month, which would immediately lead to Hollywood studio execs pitching hissy fits.

Those responding to shit, pay close attention to my original quip towards dinosaur content-providers and "Hollywood execs" here. What Netflix wants or not is largely irrelevant; I can't say for sure they would ever consider running their service without some sort of DRM or downloading deterrents. It is clear to me they want to provide a more sane service than other offerings, allowing me to watch what I want without being hamstrung by a DVR, multi-month contracts, and holding back episodes to be played one week at a time and having to hold a subscription for 3-4 months to catch the whole season, or only providing the last 5 episodes and being screwed if I start a season when the 7th episode is airing.

With all that MPAA and the like have done to this industry, I can't fathom Netflix getting to serve much content and for very long if they can't guarantee a strong protection over the content. Obviously there are always ways to circumvent the steps taken, so long as the GPU stream is pipeable.

Re: Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

#92

Post by wmf »

tbirdz wrote: post #87
wmf wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A DRM-free subscription service would immediately lead to a ripper tool that would download everything in one month, which would immediately lead to Hollywood studio execs pitching hissy fits.

GOG is a DRM free game distribution service, and they seem to be doing well even despite the ease of pirating a DRM free game.

GOG is not a subscription service where you could download every game for less than $10.

Re: Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

#93

Post by jlgreco »

tmzt wrote: post #56
jlgreco wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They would have no control over the rest of the stack. If netflix created a linux build of a DRM binary that worked with their service then it would become the tool of choice for everyone that wanted to rip/upload to usenet the latest Netflix exclusive content. Also they frankly just don't care about linux users. If this were something that they were interested in having, they would have had Netflix on Chrome on 'reg…

If an extension to XvMC or the proprietary ATI/Nvidea equivalent supported a protected path for media content, which could theoretically bypass the kernel by sending ciphertext directly to the renderer, then Widevine or another DRM system could be supported on GNU/Linux.

Seems possible, though theoretical. I would not expect to see this unless somebody was paying for it (no particular reason for ATI/Nvidia/Whoever to go out of their way to support such a thing), meaning that I will not expect to ever see it in "normal" Linux distros (perhaps in "ChromeOS style" locked down distros being marketed with their own completely separate branding).

Proprietary graphics stuff in Linux has always been a world of hurt anyway (despite the lower performance it was a godsend when progress on the radeon drivers started to accelerate). I would expect few Linux users to be thrilled about compromising their streamlined modern Linux installation to watch netflix when a separate Roku or smartphone would do. (I know I would never go for this proposal. It would not be worth the grief to be plunged back into 2005. Not on the computer that I try to get work done on...)

Re: Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

#94

Post by weavejester »

giovannibajo1 wrote: post #86
weavejester wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A DRM-free subscription service would immediately lead to a ripper tool that would download everything in one month" Why would anyone bother doing that when they could just download what they wanted over bittorrent?

they would bother because it's not easy for rippers to get eg HD video rips before the bluray version of the movie is out. So at the very least, it's making rippers' work much easier, and it brings the date when HD content is available on torrent from "whenever bluray is released" to "whenever it is available for streaming", which we are all crossing finger to become "when it is released in theaters".

Whatever gives you that idea? HD rips usually show up a few hours after an episode first airs.

Re: Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

#96

Post by ihsw »

mtgx wrote: post #23

The "good news" is that they are using web crypto, and knowing how many will try to crack Netflix's streaming now, this means the developers behind web crypto will be getting a lot of feedback and "bugs" to fix, and eventually make web crypto stronger, and maybe some day we can finally use it for e-mail and storage services.

One has to wonder whether asm.js will play a role in playing encrypted content in the browser. Surely decryption on the fly is feasible?

Re: Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

#97

Post by kcbanner »

ihsw wrote: post #96
mtgx wrote: post #23

The "good news" is that they are using web crypto, and knowing how many will try to crack Netflix's streaming now, this means the developers behind web crypto will be getting a lot of feedback and "bugs" to fix, and eventually make web crypto stronger, and maybe some day we can finally use it for e-mail and storage services.

One has to wonder whether asm.js will play a role in playing encrypted content in the browser. Surely decryption on the fly is feasible?

I believe that web crypto is an API implemented natively in the browser, there will be no need to implement decryption in javascript.

Re: Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

#98

Post by MatthewPhillips »

nitrogen wrote: post #63
kevincrane wrote: post #13

Are "Premium Media Extensions" also plugins? Because if so this didn't really get much better. It still means Linux users could be on the backburner until someone decides we can watch too. Until Mozilla and Google are on board this doesn't necessarily seem better from a "universally available" standpoint.

The situation for Linux users is better with Netflix on Silverlight, because Silverlight runs in Wine. With EME or PME or whatever they want to call it to make it sound less onerous, Linux users have no hope. Premium Media Extensions (which we should probably just call Proprietary Media Extensions) sounds like a marketing name for EME+CDM. We should not let major media providers co-opt the term "premium" to mean "enc…

Windows in VirtualBox :)

Re: Netflix ditches Silverlight with support for HTML5 video in IE11

#100

Post by lukifer »

gue5t wrote: post #83
mtgx wrote: post #23

The "good news" is that they are using web crypto, and knowing how many will try to crack Netflix's streaming now, this means the developers behind web crypto will be getting a lot of feedback and "bugs" to fix, and eventually make web crypto stronger, and maybe some day we can finally use it for e-mail and storage services.

This doesn't make sense, because you have to have the key to play the video. Cryptography and security practices are the medical science to DRM's snake oil, and I don't really expect this usage will help security at all. A "known key" attack isn't an attack at all, cryptographically speaking. In addition: it doesn't even look like they're meaningfully using "web crypto" APIs, but rather the much-debated proposed DRM…

I only know the basics of crypto, but couldn't the key be hidden and itself encrypted within the machine code for IE, and then authenticated via HTTPS? I would think this is mainly a problem for open-source browsers, which would require closed-source plugins.
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