4 ms·

> If a single company can effectively decide whether a bunch of 3rd party sites that they don't control work on your browser, how is that any different? Becaus

> If a single company can effectively decide whether a bunch of 3rd party sites that they don't control work on your browser, how is that any different? Because those third party sites choose to utilise closed software from that company. And Netflix doesn't only utilise Widevine as a DRM, it uses several different DRM systems, so Google don't have control over anything.

ggggtez 8y ago
This. Netflix is buying security for their product by doing this. We may all think (know) DRM is dumb, but DRM is more than just about how hard it is to hack. Sure, everyone could in theory reverse engineer this stuff. But the point is that it's only legally protected as long as it's at least not trivial. Open sourcing would probably invalidate their legal defences against people downloading Netflix movies.
- 0815test 8y ago
  > invalidate their legal defences against people downloading Netflix movies. I highly doubt that. A ToS violation is still a ToS violation (in the case of Netflix, which is expressly a streaming service), and copyright infringement is still copyright infringement. The legal protection that's afforded to DRM itself is something that's literally only useful to you as a content holder if you're looking to abuse copyright and go far beyond what copyright law actually grants you! That's what makes the whole notion so problematic in the first place.
  - brianpgordon 8y ago
    Well, they are granting you a license to download the copyrighted content. That's the consideration you get in exchange for paying subscription fees. IANAL but it seems doubtful to me that copyright law on its own (without the anti-circumvention parts of the DMCA) could be twisted to produce criminal penalties for downloading licensed content in a non-streaming way given that it's legal to download it in a streaming way. And ToS violations are not criminal acts.
Rapzid 8y ago
Agreed; most of the blame is on those third party sites. Further, Google's own browser, Chrome, will not stream above 720p Netflix(and maybe Amazon now). So at most Google is a lesser DRM god.
- Mindwipe 8y ago
  Chrome receives 1080p content on ChromeOS. The issue is more complex than that, and generally relates to some hardware APIs for securing the video path not being available to Win32 applications in Windows.
  - Rapzid 8y ago
    Chrome on Windows and OSX will not stream 1080p Netflix. You have to use IE or Safari. It at least used to stream 1080p for Amazon, and it may for CBS but I'm not 100%. It honestly seems like a decision made by the streaming providers.

ggggtez 8y ago

This. Netflix is buying security for their product by doing this. We may all think (know) DRM is dumb, but DRM is more than just about how hard it is to hack. Sure, everyone could in theory reverse engineer this stuff. But the point is that it's only legally protected as long as it's at least not trivial. Open sourcing would probably invalidate their legal defences against people downloading Netflix movies.

0815test 8y ago
> invalidate their legal defences against people downloading Netflix movies. I highly doubt that. A ToS violation is still a ToS violation (in the case of Netflix, which is expressly a streaming service), and copyright infringement is still copyright infringement. The legal protection that's afforded to DRM itself is something that's literally only useful to you as a content holder if you're looking to abuse copyright and go far beyond what copyright law actually grants you! That's what makes the whole notion so problematic in the first place.
- brianpgordon 8y ago
  Well, they are granting you a license to download the copyrighted content. That's the consideration you get in exchange for paying subscription fees. IANAL but it seems doubtful to me that copyright law on its own (without the anti-circumvention parts of the DMCA) could be twisted to produce criminal penalties for downloading licensed content in a non-streaming way given that it's legal to download it in a streaming way. And ToS violations are not criminal acts.

Rapzid 8y ago

Agreed; most of the blame is on those third party sites. Further, Google's own browser, Chrome, will not stream above 720p Netflix(and maybe Amazon now). So at most Google is a lesser DRM god.

Mindwipe 8y ago
Chrome receives 1080p content on ChromeOS. The issue is more complex than that, and generally relates to some hardware APIs for securing the video path not being available to Win32 applications in Windows.
- Rapzid 8y ago
  Chrome on Windows and OSX will not stream 1080p Netflix. You have to use IE or Safari. It at least used to stream 1080p for Amazon, and it may for CBS but I'm not 100%. It honestly seems like a decision made by the streaming providers.