Dropping in-browser DRM from the platform
Posted: 2021-01-18, 10:22
We haven't had a working DRM implementation in the platform for a while (due to the API changes made by Google to the only supported html5-DRM solution in practical use on the web) and it doesn't look like we'll be able to get the API version up to spec for Widevine v10 without large and risky rewrites of parts of the media code, as well as Google being completely unwilling to license use of the CDM (content decryption module) in any browser other than direct-supported and/or partnered mainstream software like Firefox.
As such there's no other option than to simply drop DRM/EME altogether from the platform as it would be unrealistic to keep this code and associated complexity for the media subsystem in place if there is no practical current or future use for it.
This will primarily impact Basilisk which is the primary application still building the support code for this technology, even if it's wholly unused on any website any more at the moment.
Of course plugin-based DRM (e.g. Silverlight) will continue to work with this change -- this will only affect EME (Encrypted Media Extensions) for HTML5-video.
The plus side will be that we can reduce the amount of code and complexity surrounding video playback, which may help with code size and performance.
Of course if there is still a practical use for our current implementation, we'd love to hear about it at this time before we start disabling and removing the relevant code from the tree; if there is any reason to postpone this, please let us know in this thread!
As such there's no other option than to simply drop DRM/EME altogether from the platform as it would be unrealistic to keep this code and associated complexity for the media subsystem in place if there is no practical current or future use for it.
This will primarily impact Basilisk which is the primary application still building the support code for this technology, even if it's wholly unused on any website any more at the moment.
Of course plugin-based DRM (e.g. Silverlight) will continue to work with this change -- this will only affect EME (Encrypted Media Extensions) for HTML5-video.
The plus side will be that we can reduce the amount of code and complexity surrounding video playback, which may help with code size and performance.
Of course if there is still a practical use for our current implementation, we'd love to hear about it at this time before we start disabling and removing the relevant code from the tree; if there is any reason to postpone this, please let us know in this thread!