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W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

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Re: W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Where has the pushback been for plugins that permitted DRM? I have never installed any plugin for DRM and don't know anybody who has.* I also warned people about the dangers of DRM all the time. In this sense the pushback was always there - but since browser plugins were hated anyway this was a rather easy fight. * OK, to be 100% honest: I am aware that Flash allowed some kind of DRM - but I never seen or used any…

Flash and Silverlight plugins have been used by Netflix/Hulu on desktop browsers. I highly doubt nobody you know has installed them. It's much more likely they simply don't tell you they did or it never came up in conversation.

> Flash and Silverlight plugins have been used by Netflix/Hulu on desktop browsers.

> I highly doubt nobody you know has installed them

Netflix (let alone Hulu) is not as popular in Germany as it is in the USA.

Re: W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the W3C is the web. You'd be forking to what? This was basically wanted by Firefox, Apple, Microsoft and Google. They are the modern web. Trying to go against them is how we ended up with XHTML, a standard no-one really wanted, or implemented.

The W3C is not the web. Look no further than the good work the WHATWG did to move the web forward while the W3C & Microsoft were holding the web back in the early 2000's.

> Look no further than the good work the WHATWG did

And who was WHATWG? Oh right, exactly the same companies that now voted for DRM as W3C standard. And why could they do WHATWG? Because they are the vendors of the majority browsers.

Re: W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be easy to view but hard to save and distribute. Why can't it? Or do you really think these people have no idea what they're taking about?

Not really. If it's available to view, it's available. Full stop. There's no way around that. You can't magically change the universe so that content that's viewed can't be captured. It HAS to be converted to analog somewhere. That signal can always be captured and converted back to a digital form that's no longer embedded with DRM. Best case: you make it marginally more difficult for a mom&pop computer user to copy…

Consider Intel ME, which has the full control over your device independently on the operating system. If it somehow works together with the DRM module, the DRM will work.

Re: W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

#204
post #95

Shame, shame, shame. We're losing the internet day by day, if we haven't done so already. I've seen people and posts here and there calling for attention on these issues, but imho it's all too subtle. We should start using harsher terminology for what's actually happening. This is flat out CORRUPTION, and I'm not seeing anyone express it as such. It's probably too late already, and unfortunately, this is merely a ref…

Capitalism at work - a handful of ultra-rich guys winning even more ground over common folks again.

In this case, the “common folk” you refer to don’t give a shit.

Re: W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

#205
post #25
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DRM doesn't and will never work. It only serves to annoy people that pay for the movie/game/whatever legitimately. It's against everything the W3C stands for. You dont' have to support something just because it's happening. You fight it, you don't give into it.

I think you mean "against everything the W3C used to stand for" here. Clearly they stand for DRM now.

The problem with W3C and many other standards committee bodies: they often get infected by a few vocal, greedy corporate jerks whom manipulate and complicate standards. It's a similar anti-pattern as any social special interest group when SJWs infect them and make everyone cool want to leave: the Tragedy of the Undefended Commons.

Us average "grassroots" folks need to new find ways to get involved more directly and edge out these corporate clones whom pose a threat to open society.

Re: W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What good is integrity if nobody uses Firefox ? That was the main reason they added EME support in the first place. Firefox staying relevant in the browser market is a better strategy in the long run than a hard line stance against DRM.

> What good is integrity if nobody uses Firefox ? That was the main reason they added EME support in the first place. This was rather the point of Fall of Men ("Zeitpunkt des Sündenfalls") in Firefox' history to me. It was also the point in time where I stopped donating to them.

And what's your solution (proposal) for the problem they faced?

Re: W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

#208
post #107

For perspective here is W3C CEO's post about it https://www.w3.org/blog/2017/09/reflections-on-the-eme-debat... And Tim Berners Lee's original decision https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html-media/2017J...

Here's the press release, with testimonials from the RIAA, MPAA, CableLabs, Netflix, Microsoft and Comcast.

https://www.w3.org/2017/09/pressrelease-eme-recommendation.h...

Re: W3C abandons consensus, standardizes DRM, EFF resigns

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The really insane part is that the DRM is pointless anyway, you can go onto any file sharing/streaming site within minutes of a Netflix release dropping and it's there in HD. I still maintain my netflix account 1) because my mum uses it with her Roku and 2) because they should be paid for providing value and good TV. I have the technical skills (like nearly all HN readers I'd imagine) to stream whatever I want with e…

> The really insane part is that the DRM is pointless anyway DRM may be pointless if you think its main goal is a way to prevent people from watching content they did not directly pay for. But that is missing the point. It does not matter that you, an individual, can break it. It's a divide and conquer strategy: we as a community have to follow the rules and that's what matters. DRM is about and has been extremely su…

> (you effectively cannot ship a playback device at any real scale without following the rules the content owners set)

Except a desktop PC/laptop - hence https://youtu.be/HUEvRyemKSg

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