HTML5 and the Digital Rights Management

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a class of controversial technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders, and individuals. It is used to control the use of digital content and devices after sale. So DRM is a set of access control technologies and highly discussed in the context of HTML5, as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published a draft proposal that would make DRM a part of HTML5.

Well, industrial players including Google, Microsoft, and Netflix (an American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media) have been lobbying for the inclusion of Encrypted Media Extensions (EME), a form of Digital Rights Management, into the HTML5 standard as they would benefit greatly by the approval. The EME allows JavaScript to select content protection mechanism and its goal is to reduce piracy on the web.

In the beginning of 2013, 27 organizations have started a campaign against Digital Rights Management in the HTML5 standard. However, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, defends the DRM in HTML5 and claimed this step as necessary to get more content on the open web. So again, what can DRM do? Well, it restricts what you can do with software or data in general. So it should keep you from using copyrighted material in a way, the publisher does not want you to use it.

Now how would DRM affect you? This question is not easy to answer, because it depends on how what products you use and how you use them. But one thing is for sure: The restrictions have become tighter. So for example with DRM it is possible that you can make copies of audio content, but only at low quality. Another example would be that iTunes content could not be shared.

The plan of the W3C is to finish HTML5 by 2014. So we are very excited to follow the development and especially the discussions regarding the DRM. What do you think about this topic? Write a comment and share your opinion!

HTML5: A Future Standard

You for sure have heard the hype: The markup language HTML5 is the future standard of the modern internet. HTML5 is a so called W3C Candidate Recommendation since December 2012, which means the standard is at a point where it does what it is supposed to and from where on significant features are mostly guaranteed. HTML5 really is becoming a new standard. But what does that mean?

The main goal of HTML5 is to be easily readable by humans and consistently understandable by computers and devices. Modern browsers all support HTML5 and developers want to use it, because of the various new features. These allow the developers to create more dynamic end results than they were able to create before. But even better: HTML5 is able to reduce the development time, so it’s possible to concentrate on writing functionalities that work and look great.

So what exactly is possible with HTML5? Well, for example there are local storage and caching; fast load times; plug-in-free video players and the possibility of carrying over the language to smartphone browsers. This is great news, because nobody has to develop different kinds of apps for different platforms anymore. But developers should be careful and think about whether the users are likely to be using browsers that are up-to-date or not.

According to surveys, in 2012 about 75% of North American internet users used browsers that are mostly HTML5 compatible, which is a growth of nearly 32% from the same time in 2011. Furthermore 63% of developers have been already actively developing with HTML5 in 2012. So as a résumé, what is HTML5 all about? Well, it’s becoming a new standard, it’s cheaper, it’s faster, it offers new features which were impossible before and last but not least it supports mobile devices.

But there’s still one question unanswered: What about the discussion regarding the Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) and HTML5? Stay tuned for more information about this topic!