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Without even looking at the article, I would guess so simply because what Netflix purports to do is what they actually do and how they make money, so there's no
by fusiongyro 9y ago
Without even looking at the article, I would guess so simply because what Netflix purports to do is what they actually do and how they make money, so there's no ethical shell game being played against starry-eyed junior developers.
- shmerl 9y ago> so there's no ethical shell game being played Netflix has some shady stuff like DRM going on, while pretending it's not their fault it was pushed into HTML standard.
- nickonline 9y agoPretty minor part of their business though
- shmerl 9y agoStill a major impact on the standard itself.
- CommentCard 9y agoIt's the reason why Netflix on Chrome and Firefox isn't in 1080p. Due to DRM support Netflix supports 1080p on Edge though.
- nickonline 9y agobut we're talking about an ethical shell game impacting mental state not the technical standards for the wider internet.
- shmerl 9y agoI'd say being hypocrites about their DRM attitude is unethical enough.
- imustbeevil 9y agoHow can Netflix survive if you're able to pay $15 and download every video they have?
- pmoriarty 9y ago"If you want to steal shit that's your prerogative, but don't pretend like you have moral high ground." Whether making a copy of a sequence of numbers without depriving the "owner" of those numbers of anything is theft is debatable.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- analognoise 9y agoThat sequence of 0s and 1s cost money to make.
- CaptSpify 9y agoBut it's free to distribute. So instead of charging customers for distribution, they should be charging customers the up-front cost of production.
- camhenlin 9y agoHow do you suggest that they do that?
- jameskegel 9y agoCrowd fund production
- CaptSpify 9y agoThat is a good question, and I'm not sure I have a good answer. Kickstarter and Patreon seem to be doing pretty well, but AFAIK they haven't been used to such a scale so they may not work for this. This is a big issue and our economy is largely suffering for it, but old-world thinking about treating digital goods like physical goods is a poor response.
- fusiongyro 9y agoThe rest of my point is basically "on their junior developers." What I'm referring to is the mismatch between what Google and Facebook actually do (monetize machine learning to sell ads) compared to what they claim to do when they recruit ("come change the world" etc.). The same is not true of Netflix with DRM.
- shmerl 9y agoWell, I doubt Netflix tell junior developers when they recruit them, that they are now in league with MPAA and on the wrong side of all things copyright. DRM is just a part of it all.
- fusiongyro 9y agoI guess I'm giving you a tip o' the hat as we pass each other by on our respective hobby horses.
- lr4444lr 9y agoComment made my day.
- WatchDog 9y agoWhat do you mean by they pretend it's not their fault? They seem to be very open about it, even boasting about their DRM work on their blog[1]. As unethical as DRM may be, I don't think Netflix have been dishonest about their involvement with it. https://medium.com/netflix-techblog/html5-video-at-netflix-721d1f143979 https://medium.com/netflix-techblog/html5-video-at-netflix-7...
- shmerl 9y agoIn the past, when there were discussions in W3C about it, and Netflix were blamed for bringing that garbage in, they were saying it's not their fault but they are forced by publishers. And this claim is a pile of trash: > This is a requirement for any premium subscription video service. DRM isn't a requirement. It's pushed by paranoid media execs, and Netflix should have control over it for their own video.
- lightbyte 9y agoAs someone that works for a company with a moderately similar business model as netflix, I can almost guarantee that Netflix is not imposing this DRM by their own volition. It is highly likely that the owners of the rights to their content force the DRM as a condition of allowing their content to be used.
- shmerl 9y ago> I can almost guarantee that Netflix is not imposing this DRM by their own volition. Where can we get their own films and shows DRM-free?
- ksk 9y agoHow much are you willing to pay for it?
- shmerl 9y agoTo pay for something, it should be available first. So it's pointless to ask, if you can't buy it for any price.
- ksk 9y agoWell if a lot of people were willing to pay more for DRM-free, or if people avoided DRM'ed content, it would make business sense to do that. Its easier to effect change from the bottom up, than demanding a company change their policies just because you disagree with them. For example, EMI experimented with selling their entire catalog DRM-free on itunes for 30 cents more per track in 2007. I don't think it turned out well for them. That's the only one I remember off the top of my head. Seems like you're interested in this topic so you may have other examples.
- shmerl 9y agoWhat makes sense is to offer an option instead of saying "we know better what you should want, so we won't offer it". Music sells just fine DRM-free on Bandcamp. Games sell fine DRM-free on GOG. So I don't see any reason for films to be different. Lack of DRM-free video has nothing to do with lack of demand, but more with paranoia and backwards thinking of some legacy media execs. See https://www.gog.com/forum/general/introducing_gogcom_drmfree_movies/post499 https://www.gog.com/forum/general/introducing_gogcom_drmfree...