Firefox 49 To Offer Linux Widevine Support, Firefox Also Working On WebP Support

[Gusar]

This brings up some questions:
- Who really wants to have DRM crap on linux?
- How exactly does this Widevine stuff work and what is it able to do?
- How can you disable it?

1) Tons of people. If you think all Linux users are against DRM, think again. Look at Steam, for example. Netflix is no different. Linux users want it.
2) It decrypts DRM-protected streams.
3) You don't need to disable it, it's not there by default. If you visit a site with DRM video, Firefox will prompt you to download it. Just say "no" at that prompt. There's an about:config option to disable even the prompt, if you really want to.

Since when does Linux lack video acceleration? It's been working perfectly for many years now.

Not in browsers. Chromium has VAAPI, but only if you patch it. Firefox has neither VAAPI nor VDPAU.

Other than that it used to work with gstreamer.

Not really. It didn't work for many people. And even when it did work, the decoded frames were copied back to system memory and then Firefox would do presentation in software. So the gain was practically nothing.

[Gusar]

I've gotten pretty good at being able to tell when a post of mine will get the "Unapproved" treatment. And sure enough, what I just posted is "Unapproved". FFS Michael, fix this crap already.

[starshipeleven]

Is that Widevine plugin only for decrypting content, or is there any mechanism that tries to prevent the screen from being captured and such things? Because I wonder how you would prevent screen capturing in an open-source environment.

AFAIK Widevine is a tiny library that only deals with the decryption of various DRM stuff, also of EME (the HTML5 DRM thingy).

There is some unsubstantiated FUD around that it is a full-blown surveillance checking that you don't use screen capture somehow and reacting somehow if you do, but no. Just no. It's a library, a plugin, it lacks legs and everything.

Anything that prevents screen capture has to be implemented somewhere else.

Btw, just like most DRMs its coding standards aren't terribly good. Seriously, unencrypted local cache of DRM content. That's a pretty epic fail I was expecting from Adobe, not from Google. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06..._widevine_drm/

[heliosh]

AFAIK netflix is just checking user agent for that, change user agent with an addon to show you are on a Windows PC, and it should let you stream HD.

Well there's HD and Full-HD

Also with Windows it's not possible to play Full-HD on Firefox/Chrome using the HTML5-player:
See the "Resolution"-section:

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23742

[Ehvis]

Well there's HD and Full-HD

Also with Windows it's not possible to play Full-HD on Firefox/Chrome using the HTML5-player:
See the "Resolution"-section:

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23742

Only marketing bullshit. There's only one HD and that is 1080p.

Also, Windows play 1080p just fine if you use ... ugh ... IE er Edge. And Apple can do it on Safari. But Netflix can't/won't certify Widevine as a good enough DRM, so it won't give it more than 3000 kbps. Regardless of OS or browser.

[137ben]

Is it possible for Widevine to be implemented as a plug-in/add-on in browsers that don't support it natively? I.e., could someone write a Pale Moon add-on that gives it Widevine support? Right now I use Pipelight/Silverlight when needed, but I suspect it will be discontinued eventually
One of the big advantages of the old plug-in system (and indeed, the Web in general) was that new browsers could be written to be compatible with a plug-in's API without explicity cooperation from the plug-in developer. That doesn't seem to be the case with Adobe's CDM, since none of the unofficial FF rebuilds support it. Is Widevine locked down the same way as Adobe CDM? If so, EME is a big step backwards for interoperability compared to the ancient NPAPI. MS Silverlight has always performed terribly even on Windows, and its death is long overdue, but I don't believe EME is a suitable replacement unless it can be made at least as interoperable (or preferably MORE open).

[137ben]

Only marketing bullshit. There's only one HD and that is 1080p.

720p being called HD is a legacy thing. Hell, 1080p isn't really "high" definition anymore, it's the current standard. Now we have 2160p and 4320p
(Which might not be noticeably better depending on how far way you sit from your screen.)

[FuturePilot]

AFAIK netflix is just checking user agent for that, change user agent with an addon to show you are on a Windows PC, and it should let you stream HD.

Also, I thought they removed that restriction for Chrome on linux.

No, Netflix HD only works in Edge because it supports PlayReady and Protected Media Path. Not even Firefox (or Chrome for that matter) on Windows stream in HD.

[cl333r]

As a dev who once had to use a C/C++ PNG api (libpng) - I'm very happy about WebP adoption. Because the former is a shitty old wacky API that takes you long to learn, while the libwebp API [1] is simple/modern/easy to use. And from what I've seen WebP is much better or equal to PNG at everything else, except (for now) being slower at certain operations. [1] https://developers.google.com/speed/webp/docs/api

[Gusar]

That doesn't seem to be the case with Adobe's CDM, since none of the unofficial FF rebuilds support it. Is Widevine locked down the same way as Adobe CDM?

Primetime works only in a signed sandbox, that's why it only works with official Mozilla builds of Firefox. Widevine doesn't have that restriction, it'll work in every build.

Yeah, this whole thing with proprietary CDMs is far from ideal. But as long as Hollywood insists on DRM, it's the best option there is. At least EME was designed from the start so that CDMs run in a sandbox, so the situation is noticeably better than the many security vulnerabilities of Flash.