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

On 06.03.2012 05:48, Mark Watson wrote:
> On Mar 5, 2012, at 5:06 PM, Tab Atkins Jr. wrote:
>> Indeed, you can't help it.  But we can prevent the infection from
>> spreading beyond the current plugin-pit, where it's less likely to be
>> required to support web content in perpetuity.

> That argument depends on us agreeing that it's an "infection". If we
agreed on that there would be no debate here.

It is similar to a viral infection:

1. it reduces the trustworthyness of the system on which it is running

2. it is viral because it can lead to situations in which *both* Open
Source browsers *and* Open Source operating systems can not be used.

>> In effect, we're choosing a different way to honor both parties'
>> rights - by simply preventing copyright owners that try to require
>> such things from using the open web.

> If by 'open web' you mean the subset of the web which
> can be accessed using purely RF Open Source software,
> then this is fine. This is a reflection of the right of software
> authors to license their products on their terms: for
> example with GPLv3, thereby preventing implementation
> of exactly the features some copyright owners require.

> But this 'open web' is not the whole web. And
> W3C standards already provide hooks for non-RF
> software to be plugged in. Trying to restrict the whole
> web into being only what you call the open web is
> unreasonable and even dangerous. What we should
> do is try to expand the open web to encompass as
> much as possible of the real web.

The W3C is about Open Web Standards and the open web and not about other
kinds of standards or webs and therefore should take a very clear stance
against all attempts to close it or parts of it.

Cheers,
Andreas

Received on Tuesday, 6 March 2012 07:36:21 UTC