Widevine, "necessary requirements", "silent monitoring" etc. Re: Encrypted Media proposal

On 01.03.2012 22:57, Mark Watson wrote:
> The underlying content protection systems are things like
> PlayReady (from Microsoft), Widevine (from Google) and Marlin.

Thanks, I had a look at widevine.com. That was more enlightening than I
had expected.

Currently available desktop platforms:
- Apple Mac platforms
- Microsoft Windows platforms
(in other words: no Linux, what a surprise!)
http://www.widevine.com/available_platforms.html

The page "Prevent Screen and Stream Recording Piracy" is particularly
revealing. If you want to know what the "Encrypted Media proposal"
proposal is really about then read *all* of it:

"Widevine's Digital Copy Protection adds an additional level of
protection against the hundreds of software tools available on the
internet that record content and enable piracy. Known as stream
recorders and screen scrapers, these tools copy content while it’s in
the clear—typically after traditional DRM systems have done their job.
Digital Copy Protection monitors, detects and protects content on any
internet connected device, preventing this method of piracy from occurring.

This addition level of protection is a necessary requirement for
preserving the revenue streams of content owners, Internet digital media
providers and payTV operators.

Here's How It Works:
Content is encrypted, stored and distributed to the user who then
watches it in a browser or video player. During playback, encrypted
content has been decrypted and the video is now vulnerable to piracy
simply by downloading a free software tools such as screen scrapers and
stream recorders which can pirate the video stream to a DRM-free file.

In the background, Widevine’s digital copy protection solution monitors
for the acceptable usage of content. If a user attempts to use a screen
scraper or other piracy method, Digital Copy Protection will detect this
and produce a number of customizable responses from silent monitoring to
revocation of viewing rights."
http://www.widevine.com/digital_copy_protection.html

I think that enough time was spent on discussing the Encrypted Media
proposal. Reading the above there can no longer be any real question
what the proposal is really about.

Cheers,
Andreas

BTW: That Linux is not a platform supported by Widevine is not because
Linux knowledge is missing there. Quite the opposite!

The list of "Required skills and background knowledge for training and
certification" of the "Certified Widevine Implementation Partner
Program" contains this outrageous detail:

"Experience with OS (Redhat Linux)
Our only supported OS is Redhat, therefore, all students are expected to
have an intermediate knowledge of Redhat commands to complete the lab."

Received on Friday, 2 March 2012 21:45:24 UTC