Re: Encrypted Media proposal (was RE: ISSUE-179: av_param - Chairs Solicit Alternate Proposals or Counter-Proposals)

On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 9:56 PM, Mark Watson <watsonm@netflix.com> wrote:
> I wanted to response to one comment you made in particular yesterday:

I'd also be very interested in a response to my question about why you
aren't proposing content descrambling using a site-supplied JS program
running in the general purpose interoperable JS execution environment
that browsers provide (without putting any part of the browser
implementation inside a Trusted Computing Base). That is, I'd be
interested in learning where the requirement for a particular level of
obfuscation comes from and what the required level of obfuscation is.

In general, it would make evaluating the proposal easier if the
requirements the proposal seeks to address were clearly stated.

> On Feb 24, 2012, at 12:17 AM, Henri Sivonen wrote:
>> If users have to use a non-browser app to view DRM content, the DRM
>> content may cause lock-in to operating system that the app runs on but
>> not to a browser within the operating system. If Netflix worked in
>> browser A but not browser B on an operating system that allows
>> multiple browsers, this would unlevel the playing field for browser
>> competition by making it more likely that users stick to browser A for
>> all their browsing use due to Netflix working in browser A not in
>> browser B. Thus, it's not clear that it's good for the health of the
>> Web to have Netflix with DRM work on the Web platform augmented with a
>> lock-in-inducing vendor-specific black box. (Netflix without browser
>> lock-in on the Web platform would be totally awesome, of course.)
>
> Netflix, with DRM, is supported today on Firefox and will continue to be.

As Boris pointed out, the concern isn't only about the case where B = Firefox.

(As the B = Firefox case, I believe it's currently the case the
Netflix doesn't work in Firefox as shipped by Mozilla without a
third-party black box for which Mozilla can't ship a compatible
substitute on its own initiative on platforms of its choice. I can't
empirically verify this belief, because Netflix declines to provide
service to people who reside in the territory where I reside.)

-- 
Henri Sivonen
hsivonen@iki.fi
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/

Received on Monday, 27 February 2012 10:35:33 UTC