[governance] Digital restrictions management in HTML standards

[Catherine Roy]

Thank you Norbert for the resources. However, the last link pointed to 
the list archives and not any content that I could see.

I would add that the EME proposal also represents problems for certain 
users with disabilities. It is a well known fact that DRM schemes are 
usually very problematic for many people with disabilities (Mike 
Gurstein's post yesterday regarding the saga that has become the WIPO 
Treaty for the Blind gives a good indication of how copyright holders 
are actively trying to limit fair use for people that are severely 
disadvantaged due to impairments). As pointed out by Pratik Patel (who 
is himself blind and an expert on technology accessibility issues) in 
the comments section of Manu's excellent post on the EME spec :

"The current state of proprietary implementations by players such as 
Netflix makes it quite difficult for disabled people to access content 
via the web. The plugins, no matter how they’re designed, make for a 
poor user experience. If there is to be any benefit derived by this 
effort, it must be that browser implementations provide a consistently 
accessible and usable interface. Of course, since users are the enemy, 
this may not be the first thing that content providers and aggregaters 
are concerned about." - 
<http://manu.sporny.org/2013/drm-in-html5/#comment-1614>

I have been a member of the HTML Working Group for the last 6 or 7 years 
now and I doubt the W3C will be swayed by moral or social arguments. I 
believe W3C wants [needs?] to offer something regarding DRM for audio 
and video content to some of its big name members (who are supporting 
this proposal) if they are ever to adopt HTML5 use for broadcasting 
audio and video content. But I also believe W3C would be more than happy 
to entertain any proposal that would be technically superior to the EME 
specification. Process has already been used to advance this spec to 
First Public Working Draft even though there is obviously not consensus 
in the working group and strong opposition outside the W3C.

So basically, the best way to defeat this spec is to propose something 
better that will rally a majority of working group members. I do not 
believe it is possible to evacuate DRM support from HTML5 (and yes, 
regardless of what the spec says in intro, it *will* facilitate DRM, not 
to mention make it part of the core language of the Web, and 
unfortunately, in a rather inelegant and inefficient way) but it may be 
possible to propose something that will not lock out open source or 
assistive technologies. I realize the CSIGC is not the body to propose a 
technically superior alternative. But signifying its opposition to a 
spec that will have vast repercussions for the Web and its users in 
terms of access and fair use is, in my humble opinion, a step in the 
right direction and a show of support for those who would be willing to 
take on the task of a counter-proposal.

Best regards,


Catherine

-- 
Catherine Roy
http://www.catherine-roy.net



On 14/05/2013 3:14 PM, Norbert Bollow wrote:
> Suresh Ramasubramanian <suresh at hserus.net> wrote:
>
>> That would possibly be equivalent to endorsing something without
>> actually understanding it in enough detail to make an informed
>> decision?
> What information is needed "to make an informed decision" beyond
> what is by now readily available?
>
> - the actual draft specification http://www.w3.org/TR/encrypted-media/
>
> - criticism from those who oppose DRM as a matter of principle:
>    https://www.defectivebydesign.org/sign-on-against-drm-in-html
>
> - criticism from a knowledgeable supporter of DRM, and discussion in
>    comments:
>    http://manu.sporny.org/2013/drm-in-html5/
>
> - my concerns about effects on Free Software OSes:
>    http://lists.igcaucus.org/arc/governance/2013-05/msg00164.html
>
> Greetings,
> Norbert
>



-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t