Re: Video copy protection

On Feb 8, 2010, at 17:39 , Jonas Sicking wrote:

> On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 4:43 PM, David Singer <singer@apple.com> wrote:
>> 
>> For what it's worth, QuickTime has had a tag in the movie file ('no-save') and also the QuickTime plugin had Kioskmode, and at least some people found them useful.  They are roughly on the scale of a little white fence saying "don't enter" -- they are low enough that you can easily climb over, but they're there, and you know you have done it and the source didn't want you to.
>> 
>> Whether this level of notice is useful in the HTML 5 spec. context is a subject that could engage us for weeks, alas.  I (personally) don't see it as harmful.
> 
> As I said, my concern is that this could lead to applications being
> legally required to honor the little white fence due to DMCA (and
> similar legislation in other countries). I think that could be
> immensely harmful.

As I say, QuickTime includes both, and we have not (as far as I know) had anyone see it as any more than a minor sign, a courtesy notice.

> 
> Though ultimately I don't think that the 'no-save' flag belongs in
> markup, but rather the video file format. And so I believe this is the
> wrong forum for this discussion.


Well, again, they both have some (limited) value.  If the browser normally has a menu (with save in it), then asking the browser not to offer that belongs in the browser's space.  If the media system has a menu (e.g. a pop-up on the video) or the video can be opened in a media player easily, outside the browser, then the tag also belongs in the media file.

Browsers should not be looking for instruction inside the media files, and media players shouldn't be looking in the markup (which might not be there).

David Singer
Multimedia and Software Standards, Apple Inc.

Received on Tuesday, 9 February 2010 01:47:04 UTC