Re: Monetizing Web apps

On 07/03/2013 11:59 , Dominique Hazael-Massieux wrote:
> There is a whole headlight project dedicated to payments on the Web:
> http://www.w3.org/wiki/Payments_Task_Force
> with which we could usefully collaborate (by e.g. making sure our
> requirements are addressed).

Thanks for getting the ball rolling Dom. In the specific context of 
monetisation, I would like to bring up an unpleasant question, if only 
because I find it better to have the unpleasant discussions upfront :)

Typically, when one purchases a mobile app, it can't just be copied to 
another device willy-nilly. There is a form of proof of purchase that 
ties it to the device (or user) that it was purchased for/by.

We don't have anything that resembles that in the Web Platform. Is it 
something that we believe we want? Note that being able to copy apps but 
supporting in-app purchases likely produces a similar outcome (since you 
can copy an empty shell and require in-app proof-of-purchase of 
everything else).

I wanted to raise this as a particularly thorny issue because while the 
above may seem reasonable as presented (it is, after all, what is most 
commonly done) it also goes by the name "DRM". For some reason, that 
seems to inflame passions.

-- 
Robin Berjon - http://berjon.com/ - @robinberjon

Received on Thursday, 7 March 2013 13:24:18 UTC