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What exactly is Netflix trying to prevent by using DRM? It seems like people are happy to pay for a Netflix subscription, even more if they could stream on Linu

What exactly is Netflix trying to prevent by using DRM? It seems like people are happy to pay for a Netflix subscription, even more if they could stream on Linux.

MichaelGG 14y ago
They are probably trying to prevent breaking their contracts with the content providers, which, somehow, think DRM actually hinders things. We'll see how quickly the new Netflix-only Arrested Development ends up on The Pirate Bay. I have a Netflix subscription, but sometimes I still prefer to torrent. I can force HD, I can load proper subtitles (ones without all caps), I can fix audio or video issues (levels).
- gibybo 14y ago
  Probably about as quickly as the Netflix-only House of Cards ended up on The Pirate Bay: about 2 hours after its release.
  - rayiner 14y ago
    At equal quality?
    - shitlord 14y ago
      I don't know what the original quality is, but for TV, there are usually 2 or 3 release formats (excluding webrips): standard quality (about half the height/width of 720p), 720p, and 1080p. The standard quality and 720p are usually posted a few minutes after the show airs, and the 1080p usually comes a long time later. Sometimes, episodes are even posted before the show airs in your region.
      - rayiner 14y ago
        But how are they doing the rips? Are they getting the original encoded stream, doing analog capture and reencoding, or what? If DRM forces them to do a less than perfect copy of the stream, that's a big win for the content producer.
        tmzt 14y ago
        Maybe through DVI? If you can watch something on a standard computer monitor you can also capture it in high-resolution RGB through the DVI port.
        rayiner 14y ago
        Right, but then you decode -> re-encode which decreases quality. At the aggressive bit-rates used for HD content online, that can be substantial. So as long as DRM forces re-encoding, content producers can say: "buy it for the best quality" and that's a win for them.
        shitlord 14y ago
        Sorry for the late response; I don't usually check threads. According to someone I asked on IRC, House of Cards apparently airs somewhere offshore (I think it was Germany), but that is where the non-webrip episodes are coming from. It also explains why there are only six different non-webrip episodes released. BTW, the webrips are the ones that are coming from DVI or from captured + decrypted video streams.
    - gibybo 14y ago
      No, they were just re-encodes to my knowledge. I have a Netflix account and I checked out one of the pirated ones just to compare. I couldn't tell a difference so they did a good job, but I'm sure the difference was there. I'd imagine the Netflix DRM will get broken sooner or later, especially as they continue to release Netflix-only content, but the screen caps have been so good that the pressure to do so hasn't been very high I don't think.
- codygman 14y ago
  Yeah, I know lots of people who pay for a netflix subscription and then torrent netflix available content for higher resolution/etc.
lukifer 14y ago
It would take about five minutes for a Napster-like browser plugin to arrive that would allow the user to trivially dump the whole movie to their hard drive. Maybe Netflix's business model could sustain that, but the content owners would have a heart attack, fearing cannibalization of their other distribution networks. Sure, everything's all on the torrent sites anyway, but the legal scare tactics worked to scare enough people away. With Netflix-Napster, though, there'd be no way to tell the difference between a legit stream and an unauthorized rip. Obviously copy-friendly business models are preferable, maybe even inevitable, but for now, intellectual "property" rights trumps all.
olivier1664 14y ago
Also: Subscribe for one month, download all the catalog, stop the subscription.
- WiseWeasel 14y ago
  You forgot 'rig up a petabyte of live storage capacity' in there somewhere.
pornel 14y ago
By switching from Silverlight DRM with public interface (NPAPI) to Netflix DRM plug-in (CDM) with secret API and more restrictive licensing they're gaining ability to prevent any unapproved software from using the website. Currently thanks to NPAPI interoperability anybody could build a browser/player that plays Netflix in ways they cannot easily control. But with their own DRM plugin they can for example ensure that only Google-built Chrome can play Netflix and Chromium can't, so you won't be able to build your own Netflix settop box. It's not about preventing piracy. It's about enforcing content providers' wishes on browser and OS vendors, and using W3C's name to legitimize the practice. https://plus.google.com/107429617152575897589/posts/iPmatxBYuj2 https://plus.google.com/107429617152575897589/posts/iPmatxBY...

What exactly is Netflix trying to prevent by using DRM? It seems like people are happy to pay for a Netflix subscription, even more if they could stream on Linux.

MichaelGG 14y ago

They are probably trying to prevent breaking their contracts with the content providers, which, somehow, think DRM actually hinders things. We'll see how quickly the new Netflix-only Arrested Development ends up on The Pirate Bay. I have a Netflix subscription, but sometimes I still prefer to torrent. I can force HD, I can load proper subtitles (ones without all caps), I can fix audio or video issues (levels).

gibybo 14y ago
Probably about as quickly as the Netflix-only House of Cards ended up on The Pirate Bay: about 2 hours after its release.
- rayiner 14y ago
  At equal quality?
  - shitlord 14y ago
    I don't know what the original quality is, but for TV, there are usually 2 or 3 release formats (excluding webrips): standard quality (about half the height/width of 720p), 720p, and 1080p. The standard quality and 720p are usually posted a few minutes after the show airs, and the 1080p usually comes a long time later. Sometimes, episodes are even posted before the show airs in your region.
    - rayiner 14y ago
      But how are they doing the rips? Are they getting the original encoded stream, doing analog capture and reencoding, or what? If DRM forces them to do a less than perfect copy of the stream, that's a big win for the content producer.
      - tmzt 14y ago
        Maybe through DVI? If you can watch something on a standard computer monitor you can also capture it in high-resolution RGB through the DVI port.
        rayiner 14y ago
        Right, but then you decode -> re-encode which decreases quality. At the aggressive bit-rates used for HD content online, that can be substantial. So as long as DRM forces re-encoding, content producers can say: "buy it for the best quality" and that's a win for them.
      - shitlord 14y ago
        Sorry for the late response; I don't usually check threads. According to someone I asked on IRC, House of Cards apparently airs somewhere offshore (I think it was Germany), but that is where the non-webrip episodes are coming from. It also explains why there are only six different non-webrip episodes released. BTW, the webrips are the ones that are coming from DVI or from captured + decrypted video streams.
  - gibybo 14y ago
    No, they were just re-encodes to my knowledge. I have a Netflix account and I checked out one of the pirated ones just to compare. I couldn't tell a difference so they did a good job, but I'm sure the difference was there. I'd imagine the Netflix DRM will get broken sooner or later, especially as they continue to release Netflix-only content, but the screen caps have been so good that the pressure to do so hasn't been very high I don't think.
codygman 14y ago
Yeah, I know lots of people who pay for a netflix subscription and then torrent netflix available content for higher resolution/etc.

lukifer 14y ago

It would take about five minutes for a Napster-like browser plugin to arrive that would allow the user to trivially dump the whole movie to their hard drive. Maybe Netflix's business model could sustain that, but the content owners would have a heart attack, fearing cannibalization of their other distribution networks. Sure, everything's all on the torrent sites anyway, but the legal scare tactics worked to scare enough people away. With Netflix-Napster, though, there'd be no way to tell the difference between a legit stream and an unauthorized rip. Obviously copy-friendly business models are preferable, maybe even inevitable, but for now, intellectual "property" rights trumps all.

olivier1664 14y ago

Also: Subscribe for one month, download all the catalog, stop the subscription.

WiseWeasel 14y ago
You forgot 'rig up a petabyte of live storage capacity' in there somewhere.

pornel 14y ago

By switching from Silverlight DRM with public interface (NPAPI) to Netflix DRM plug-in (CDM) with secret API and more restrictive licensing they're gaining ability to prevent any unapproved software from using the website. Currently thanks to NPAPI interoperability anybody could build a browser/player that plays Netflix in ways they cannot easily control. But with their own DRM plugin they can for example ensure that only Google-built Chrome can play Netflix and Chromium can't, so you won't be able to build your own Netflix settop box. It's not about preventing piracy. It's about enforcing content providers' wishes on browser and OS vendors, and using W3C's name to legitimize the practice. https://plus.google.com/107429617152575897589/posts/iPmatxBYuj2 https://plus.google.com/107429617152575897589/posts/iPmatxBY...