user-inactivated:

One of the most notable things about 1201 is that it makes it illegal to tinker with or research ways to get around DRM for gadgets or media that you already own (even if you don't share it). Even if the DRM is poorly implemented and easy to get around, if it was meant to be a digital lock, it's illegal to try to break the lock. Cory Doctorow gave a keynote at the Decentralized Web Summit last month at the Internet Archive and talked a lot about DMCA 1201:

https://ia601503.us.archive.org/33/items/DWebSummit2016_Keynote_Cory_Doctorow/DWebSummit2016_Keynote_Cory_Doctorow.ogv

In the speech he talks a lot about one reason DMCA is becoming especially troubling lately: with EME DRM is being baked into the web.

It's a pretty complicated issue, because it definitely is solving a real problem: Netflix, spotify, etc. have needed to Flash/silverlight/whatever to prevent users from downloading files in their browser. With EME, users won't have to resort to using these closed source extensions that have often exposed them to security vulnerabilities.

On the other hand, EME means DRM is getting a first class seat in browsers. Whereas we've always been able to download and keep any media sent to us over the (open) web, EME will prevent that. And to add insult to injury, it severely raises the bar for any new browsers to enter the fray. From another EFF post:

    This system, "Encrypted Media Extensions" (EME) uses standards-defined code to funnel video into a proprietary container called a "Content Decryption Module." For a new browser to support this new video streaming standard -- which major studios and cable operators are pushing for -- it would have to convince those entertainment companies or one of their partners to let them have a CDM, or this part of the "open" Web would not display in their new browser.

Further reading:

- EME on Wikipedia

- Interoperability and the W3C: Defending the Future from the Present

- An Open Letter to Members of the W3C Advisory Committee

- defectivebydesign.com

edit: hey mk, could we get direct links to video and audio files to be embedded in posts like images are?


posted 2827 days ago