[Wowfunhappy]

Isn't this just how DRM works? It's precisely why so many were concerned about EME being adopted into web standards, and why so many are passionate about DRM-Free media. DRM is designed to put restrictions on where, when, and how media is played, including what software it's used with.

This doesn't invalidate any of the author's points, and they're right to be upset. But the problem isn't Chrome per se, it's DRM-encumbered media.

And that's why I buy audiobooks from Libro.fm†, games from GOG†, and (out of necessity) movies and TV shows from iTunes—which are still DRM'd by default but are at least relatively easy to decrypt.

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† Among others, I don't use any one source.

[kmeisthax]

Strictly speaking, Widevine isn't a standard - the web standards tracks really don't allow for it. Hell, they couldn't even agree on a single baseline video standard. The only part of web standards that even covers DRM is EME, which just specifies a way for JavaScript to negotiate content decryption with a DRM plugin. It specifies no standard DRM, and it can't do that, because DRM by it's very nature is not standardizable - or, more specifically, standardized DRM is ineffective. You can totally write video DRM in JavaScript using Media Source Extensions. You'll just have no actual technical control over where the video goes after it's been decrypted; that's why they want compiled binaries that have to be distributed as browser plugins.

[est31]

> It specifies no standard DRM

The w3c spec does specify the clearkey DRM plugin as mandatory to implement, but as the name says, the encryption keys are not hidden in any fashion from users, so most deployments use one of the proprietary plugins.

[Wowfunhappy]

Whoops, I was getting Widevine and EME confused! Thank you for the correction, I've edited my comment.

[jonas21]

Yes, perhaps the lesson here is that one should do some basic investigation on whether an approach has any fatal flaws before spending 2 years working on it.

[Wowfunhappy]

I think I agree, harsh as it may be. But that doesn't mean the author's complaints are illegitimate—they're just a tad misplaced.

DRM hampers innovation and creativity in all sorts of ways. It locks users into specific platforms, and prevents anyone else from leveraging those platforms to build improved or entirely new experiences.

I'm not sure if this is still the case, but I remember when the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive were new, a lot of people were disappointed that they couldn't watch Netflix in a virtual theater (in high quality). The DRM made it impossible.

[Anthony-G]

Thanks for the link to Libro.fm; it looks like a great initiative. Unfortunately, for a lot of titles I'm interested in, I get this message: "You appear to be accessing the site from a country where this title has restricted rights". Do you know of a similar audiobook provider for the EU?

[Wowfunhappy]

Unfortunately I don't. What I can do is list all the services I know of which sell DRM-Free Audiobooks in the US:

• Libro.fm

• Downpour.com

• Audiobooksnow.com (Check for a "Downloadable" icon, a very small number of tiles without it have DRM).

• Google Play

I bounce between the first three of these regularly, based on price and availability. I've never actually used Google Play for audiobooks; they always seems to cost more.

Hopefully at least one of those has better offerings in the EU!

[Anthony-G]

Thanks for that list. I only got into listening to audiobooks last year when I started walking a lot more (due to Covid-19 restrictions). My local public library had a deal with Bolinda where library members could rent audiobooks at no cost. The catch is that (due to artificial scarcity), the user usually has to wait a couple of months before the title they're interested in becomes available. It turned out that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was immediately available so after listening to that, I continued with the rest of the series. When I became too impatient to wait for the next title to become available, I was able to purchase non-DRM MP3 files from JK Rowling's own site, Pottermore.

[Minor49er]

You should check out Bandcamp for DRM-free music. It's an excellent platform

[mr_toad]

“I created a browser and Netflix blocked it” isn’t as baity a headline.

[Wowfunhappy]

But that's not really accurate either, right? Netflix didn't specifically block this app.

If I was writing this headline, I think I'd go with something like:

> "I tried building a better way to watch videos, but DRM stopped me."

Which is still pretty attention grabbing.