Re: Netflix HTML5 player in IE 11 on Windows 8.1

On Tuesday, Tue, 2013/07/02, Mark Watson wrote:
> Microsoft have announced end-of-life for Silverlight. Do you think that
> when that time comes, if there is no alternative in the browsers
> themselves, content providers will shrug and modify their contracts to
> allow DRM-free distribution of their content ? 
> Or is it more likely that another plugin based solution will emerge,
> giving users no choice of what to install in order to view the content ?

First: users do have a choice, there's always piracy (Big Content may not 
like it but that's a lost battle for them).

Second: DRM is always and inevitably going to be more hassle for the user 
then a non-DRM version of the same software/service. 

Thirth: DRM is always and inevitably going to be more hassle for the 
provider due to the extra overhead of managing the licenses and user 
complaints (hey I've bougth  a new phone/tablet/computer, now my media don't 
work anymore)

Given the 2nd and 3th point, DRM content is at an inherent disadvantage.
Consequently in any competition between otherwise equivalent DRM and non-DRM 
content the DRM-content is bound to lose in the long run.

Given that an increasing amount of (individual/small) content producers are 
_already_ doing the DRM-free thing. The most likely outcome is that non-DRM 
will (slowly) reach critical mass, after which any providers sticking to DRM 
are going to find themselves rapidly irrelevant.

Whishfull thinking? Maybe, but on my part or yours? Time well tell
--
Cheers, Cobaco (aka Bart Cornelis)

Received on Tuesday, 2 July 2013 10:54:46 UTC