Re: Netflix HTML5 player in IE 11 on Windows 8.1

On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 1:02 AM, David Singer <singer@apple.com> wrote:

>
> On Jul 10, 2013, at 5:11 , Matt Ivie <matt.ivie@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 2013-07-06 at 20:21 -0700, David Singer wrote:
> >> On Jul 5, 2013, at 23:39 , Matt Ivie <matt.ivie@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>>> 1) THE W3C IS NOT WORKING ON A DRM SOLUTION!
> >>>> (Shouting most certainly intended. You can repeat this falsehood as
> often as
> >>>> you wish, it will not magically make it true).
> >>>
> >>> But it is fitting the gloves for the working hands of Digital
> >>> RESTRICTIONS Management to fit into. MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT
> >>> THAT!(Shouting most certainly intended.)
> >>>
> >>> Again also: what other standards has the W3C set that cannot be
> >>> implemented in free software?
> >>
> >>
> >> EME can be implemented in free software.  Even some 'lightweight' DRMs
> can.
> >>
> >> David Singer
> >> Multimedia and Software Standards, Apple Inc.
> >>
> >
> > I know that EME can be implemented in Free Software but it's the Digital
> > Restrictions Management I was referring to. When you speak of
> > "lightweight" Digital Restrictions Management, do you mean "breakable"?
> > It's my understanding that breakable Digital Restrictions Management
> > wouldn't satisfy the parties that are involved in the W3C that are
> > demanding it.
>
> It wouldn't satisfy all of them, for sure.
>
> But the needs do vary.  There are some that want a 'high wall' (hard to
> break, obfuscated code, and so on), and others that want a 'garden fence'
> (people know it's there, it takes a little effort to climb over, and so on).
>
> There have been efforts at such, as I say:  <
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Media_Commons> and OMA PDCF come to
> mind.
>
> > So what other W3C standards can't be implemented in Free Software? I
> > don't know of any myself and aside from suggestions that /maybe/ there
> > could be a weak DRM implementation done in Free Software that could
> > appease people, no one can seem to answer this question.
>
>
> Given that there are free software implementations even of encumbered
> standards, yes, it could be that DRM is in a unique place, where indeed
> knowing how the client works enables defeating the purpose of the software.
>

Whilst the commercial DRM vendors don't publish their source code, knowing
how the DRM works doesn't in itself enable you to defeat it, though of
course it makes it easier (by short-circuiting the first step of
reverse-engineering or obtaining the source by some other means).

There are open-source DRMs, though they are not Free Software since they
rely on techniques that make the shipped code non-user-modifiable.

...Mark


>
> David Singer
> Multimedia and Software Standards, Apple Inc.
>
>
>