4 ms·

Are they only willing to use copy protection designed by the makers of the operating system they are using? I'm just speculating but this seems to be the case f

Are they only willing to use copy protection designed by the makers of the operating system they are using? I'm just speculating but this seems to be the case for ps3, xbox, wii, mac, pc, ipad.

mortenjorck 16y ago
I never thought about it like that, but now that you mention it, it does seem a likely pattern. It's especially plausible because it frees Netflix from responsibility for content protection systems across platforms -- if one of the targets is compromised, the studios have to deal with the hardware vendor, not Netflix.
- doron 16y ago
  Android hack development has reached a point where replacing the manufacturer OS with a custom version built by hackers has become completely trivial on some leading models. not only do I see more and more nontechnical users carrying android phones, but an increasing number of them carry rooted and custom OS builds. The office manager at my workplace found her Verizon stock OS slow,and prone to occasional crashes in trying to understand why, she stumbled about (google search)a howto article on replacing the OS in two clicks (using unrevoked, adding a zip file to your phone, and clicking some key combination), having done so, happy and empowered by the change she performed, she instructs other nontech how to own (!!!) their handsets. The point of this story is that: 1. This is probably the intention behind why google allowed this to happen (if you check XDA developers, its thriving). in this sense phones are different then full fledged computers, hacks tend to work fine and even better then the bundle, certainly cleaner. you can download and replace your phone ROM on the fly now with rom manager (available on Google app market, and try several flavor for your own phone, (with/without htc sense, clean froyo etc..) restoring your bought apps is simple, just log into your Google account, and re download. 2. The Movie industry will shun a platform that non sanctioned (i.e not supporting DRM) developers and users can easily command, Netflix has no choice but to comply.
YooLi 16y ago
They are more than willing, it is what they require. That is what he is saying is the problem. Android has none 'built in', so in order to bring the app to a handset, the manufacturer of the handset has to provide it.
- nkurz 16y ago
  I don't think this is quite true. Doesn't Netflix on Mac use Microsoft's Silverlight, which is not provided by Apple? And wouldn't the streaming requirements for Hulu (which is using Flash) be the essentially the same as for Netflix? So while they are saying that the manufacturer has to provide the DRM, I'm not sure where this 'requirement' is coming from.
  - YooLi 16y ago
    On PCs they chose the Silverlight platform, but what do PCs have to do with mobile devices. Silverlight isn't available on mobile devices, and choosing Flash for android deployment wouldn't help them much either. How many android devices run flash? How many of those run it well? Does anyone provide a content protection framework for Android? No, and that's the problem. What part isn't 'quite true'?
    - nkurz 16y ago
      what do PCs have to do with mobile devices I see them as pretty much indistinguishable, but maybe my perspective is skewed: my cell phone (HTC Incredible) and my laptop (Thinkpad X31) have roughly comparable processors and both run Linux. There's some differences in API, but I don't see anything inherently different about them. As time goes on, I think the blurring will continue. How many android devices run flash I'm not sure, but I presume that anything running Android 2.2 will. This should include all high end phones sold this year, plus everything for the future. I think most of these run it well, and would bet that all future Android phones will. What part isn't 'quite true'? I feel it is false to say that either Netflix or the studios require that the DRM be provided by the underlying OS. I think this is proven the existence of Netflix streaming to Silverlight in OSX. The ability of Hulu to use a flash solution also casts doubt, but this might depend on whether 'they' refers to the studios or to Netflix. But if it's a Netflix requirement to require OS level DRM, I'd wonder why they have this requirement.

Are they only willing to use copy protection designed by the makers of the operating system they are using? I'm just speculating but this seems to be the case for ps3, xbox, wii, mac, pc, ipad.

mortenjorck 16y ago

I never thought about it like that, but now that you mention it, it does seem a likely pattern. It's especially plausible because it frees Netflix from responsibility for content protection systems across platforms -- if one of the targets is compromised, the studios have to deal with the hardware vendor, not Netflix.

doron 16y ago
Android hack development has reached a point where replacing the manufacturer OS with a custom version built by hackers has become completely trivial on some leading models. not only do I see more and more nontechnical users carrying android phones, but an increasing number of them carry rooted and custom OS builds. The office manager at my workplace found her Verizon stock OS slow,and prone to occasional crashes in trying to understand why, she stumbled about (google search)a howto article on replacing the OS in two clicks (using unrevoked, adding a zip file to your phone, and clicking some key combination), having done so, happy and empowered by the change she performed, she instructs other nontech how to own (!!!) their handsets. The point of this story is that: 1. This is probably the intention behind why google allowed this to happen (if you check XDA developers, its thriving). in this sense phones are different then full fledged computers, hacks tend to work fine and even better then the bundle, certainly cleaner. you can download and replace your phone ROM on the fly now with rom manager (available on Google app market, and try several flavor for your own phone, (with/without htc sense, clean froyo etc..) restoring your bought apps is simple, just log into your Google account, and re download. 2. The Movie industry will shun a platform that non sanctioned (i.e not supporting DRM) developers and users can easily command, Netflix has no choice but to comply.

YooLi 16y ago

They are more than willing, it is what they require. That is what he is saying is the problem. Android has none 'built in', so in order to bring the app to a handset, the manufacturer of the handset has to provide it.

nkurz 16y ago
I don't think this is quite true. Doesn't Netflix on Mac use Microsoft's Silverlight, which is not provided by Apple? And wouldn't the streaming requirements for Hulu (which is using Flash) be the essentially the same as for Netflix? So while they are saying that the manufacturer has to provide the DRM, I'm not sure where this 'requirement' is coming from.
- YooLi 16y ago
  On PCs they chose the Silverlight platform, but what do PCs have to do with mobile devices. Silverlight isn't available on mobile devices, and choosing Flash for android deployment wouldn't help them much either. How many android devices run flash? How many of those run it well? Does anyone provide a content protection framework for Android? No, and that's the problem. What part isn't 'quite true'?
  - nkurz 16y ago
    what do PCs have to do with mobile devices I see them as pretty much indistinguishable, but maybe my perspective is skewed: my cell phone (HTC Incredible) and my laptop (Thinkpad X31) have roughly comparable processors and both run Linux. There's some differences in API, but I don't see anything inherently different about them. As time goes on, I think the blurring will continue. How many android devices run flash I'm not sure, but I presume that anything running Android 2.2 will. This should include all high end phones sold this year, plus everything for the future. I think most of these run it well, and would bet that all future Android phones will. What part isn't 'quite true'? I feel it is false to say that either Netflix or the studios require that the DRM be provided by the underlying OS. I think this is proven the existence of Netflix streaming to Silverlight in OSX. The ability of Hulu to use a flash solution also casts doubt, but this might depend on whether 'they' refers to the studios or to Netflix. But if it's a Netflix requirement to require OS level DRM, I'd wonder why they have this requirement.