Re: Encrypted Media proposal: Summary of the discussion so far

On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 11:17 AM, Tab Atkins Jr. <jackalmage@gmail.com>wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 9:38 AM, Glenn Adams <glenn@skynav.com> wrote:
> > On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 9:48 AM, Tab Atkins Jr. <jackalmage@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> > I cannot speak to any contractual obligations.
> >> > However, I would bet that for *some* applications the protection that
> >> > ClearKey affords can be satisfactory.
> >> > I would also bet that a mechanism that is implemented in hundreds of
> >> > millions of browser installations is attractive for content owners.
> >> > Another bet: given lowered barriers to entry, we will see additional
> >> > options
> >> > beyond Clear Key and the commercial CDMs we know today.
> >> > Unfortunately, I can't back up these bets with anything concrete. They
> >> > just
> >> > seem like safe bets.
> >>
> >> Luckily, we have people from a relevant company (Netflix)
> >> participating in the thread who *can* speak for their own contractual
> >> obligations.  If *no one* is willing to speak for their contractual
> >> obligations, then I think we should assume that there are no such
> >> obligations and act according to our best judgement.
> >
> >
> > That would be an incorrect assumption. Cox Communications has to satisfy
> > such obligations that definitely do exist, and this is true for most
> (all?)
> > US commercial video providers.
> >
> > Cox requires that existing DRM/CP solutions be supported by this
> proposal,
> > and the defined CDM mechanism appears to satisfy this requirement.
>
> The question was about the ClearKey CDM in particular.  Is this
> acceptable for Cox Communications, or do their contractual obligations
> require "real" DRM?
>

As I and others have pointed out multiple times, this is not a decision
that is in Cox's hands. It is a requirement placed on Cox by 3rd party
content owners. The requirement is very simple: in order to distribute
content X from content provider P, where P requires that X be protected by
DRM/CP system S, then Cox must ensure that what is delivered to its
customers is S(X). Of course Cox (and other commercial video providers)
routinely talk with content owners and may suggest they choose ClearKey for
S, but we can only make that suggestion, and not mandate or enforce it.