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Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

techblog.netflix.com

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Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#141

Post by algesten »

scythe wrote: post #86
cyborgx7 wrote: post #2

Translation: Netflix successfully lobied DRM into what is supposed to be the OPEN web standard, to the point where even Firefox couldn't afford not to support it. Dark days for the free exchange of information enabled by the web.

It's true but it doesn't make sense IMO for the buck to stop at Netflix. If Netflix could have talked content providers into allowing them to use an open-source "DRM" that worked for ordinary users but which could probably be circumvented by someone with programming skills, this wouldn't happen. The problem is that legally Netflix could be on the hook for any copyright infringement that may have been facilitated by t…

Even if I don't like DRM, I don't believe a closed source DRM is any more perfect than an open source one. There's a strong link to cryptography here, and in that area an open source encryption is no less perfect than a closed one.

Whatever DRM was required to please the suffering media conglomerates, it could at least have been open source.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#142

Post by [deleted] »

cyborgx7 wrote: post #2

Translation: Netflix successfully lobied DRM into what is supposed to be the OPEN web standard, to the point where even Firefox couldn't afford not to support it. Dark days for the free exchange of information enabled by the web.

[deleted]

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#143

Post by nikcub »

jasonmp85 wrote: post #3
cyborgx7 wrote: post #2

Translation: Netflix successfully lobied DRM into what is supposed to be the OPEN web standard, to the point where even Firefox couldn't afford not to support it. Dark days for the free exchange of information enabled by the web.

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

One of the only positives to come out of these new standards was that NPAPI could be deprecated.

We've arguably replaced an insecure and general purpose open interface to proprietary blobs with more narrow and single purpose open interfaces to proprietary blobs.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#145

Post by __jal »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #118
azakai wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, the DRM is still not standard. Only the interface to it is. Every browser must still deal directly with the DRM provider and hope to reach an agreement with them, both technically and financially. As a result, only certain platforms are supported. New browsers face a new barrier to entry, in particular - the exact opposite of how the Web is support to work. Second, this is worse in the sense that Netflix, Goog…

> it's a good compromise in a capitalist society where artists need to make money for what they produce in order to feed themselves

Funny, I haven't heard many artists clamoring for DRM, and the ones who do tend to be well beyond the feeding-themselves step on Maslow's Hierarchy.

No, it is, as always, the distributors. That's because DRM hurts artists but entrenches distributors.

It is a shitty compromise because it is the start of a closed web. Enjoy your view-source while your corporate overlords deign to give you permission.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#146

Post by algesten »

voidlogic wrote: post #80
egeozcan wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are quite many ways "pirates" capture a video. Recording the screen is probably the last resort and makes you end up with a very low quality copy. But yes, until they also build in the technology they have in PlayStations (Cinavia) to video cameras, that is the most obvious leak.

I would think you could hook into X11 to do this quite nicely.

Problem is that grabbing the last frame buffer would mean you're doing it post decompression. To distribute something you grabbed like that you'd need to recompress it and then have a generation degradation of lossy compression.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#147

Post by wnevets »

SwellJoe wrote: post #15

I don't like DRM, but I like binging Netflix in a corner on my laptop while I work. I've been doing it for years using Chrome with a fake user-agent to fool Netflix into thinking I'm on Windows (apparently that hasn't been needed for some time?) So...I'm torn, I guess. I'm glad Linux/Firefox can Netflix, but I'd like it if web standards were open and not patent encumbered. I guess it's a political issue and not a tec…

>(as they're evil on net neutrality now that they are in a position of strength).

what is this in reference to?

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#148

Post by WizzleKake »

mozumder wrote: post #131
JoshTriplett wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was indeed, since people had started recognizing the problems with Flash and Silverlight, and they'd have been much easier to kill off. DRM should have stayed second-class, leaving the way open for competitors to offer a first-class web experience as long as they left DRM behind.

Sorry, but Hollywood has the upper hand here. Hollywood has no desire to enter an open platform. They're completely happy if none of their movies are online, ever. Really. They already have a massively profitable distribution system in the theaters. The problem is that people want to watch Hollywood movies on their computer, including people that use Linux. So what do you tell those people to do? Tell them run Window…

Their only choice is to pay up or ignore it.

They can pirate it too, which is often a superior user experience in that the user can keep the file, move it to a different device, watch without arcane restrictions, etc.

Re: Update on HTML5 Video for Netflix

#149

Post by always_good »

SwellJoe wrote: post #15

I don't like DRM, but I like binging Netflix in a corner on my laptop while I work. I've been doing it for years using Chrome with a fake user-agent to fool Netflix into thinking I'm on Windows (apparently that hasn't been needed for some time?) So...I'm torn, I guess. I'm glad Linux/Firefox can Netflix, but I'd like it if web standards were open and not patent encumbered. I guess it's a political issue and not a tec…

    > I like binging Netflix in a corner on my
    > laptop while I work
My girlfriend and some friends do this during work/chores, but I'm wondering how that works.

Are there really shows that aren't good enough to warrant your undivided attention, yet good enough to watch in the first place?

I really can't think of any for myself. If I don't mind missing chunks of a show, then I don't really want to watch it in the first place. If it was good, then I wouldn't want to miss it. Just curious.

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