EFF officially protests against DRM in HTML5

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has formally objected to the W3C against the inclusion of DRM technology in the HTML5 standard. According to the movement, the intention leads to less web innovation and hinders free access to content.

The HTML Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium recently published its first draft on how DRM mechanisms can be discovered and deployed by a browser via an API. The proposed specification, Encrypted Media Extension, does not itself contain a DRM system.

The insertion of a DRM mechanism into the HTML5 standard is supported by major parties, including Microsoft, Netflix and Google. The latter has already incorporated the specification into its Chrome browser. Yet there was also a lot of criticism, including from the Free Software Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, that including a DRM system in open web standards would go against the core values ​​of the W3C.

The EFF now has an official objection after collecting signatures submitted at the W3C. According to the digital civil rights movement, which is a member of the W3C, the insertion of DRM technology into the HTML5 standard creates for the first time a ‘black box’ according to the wishes of the entertainment industry. In addition, DRM would hardly offer any security in practice and it actually hinders users from accessing content, the organization argues.

The EFF fears that implementation of the Encrypted Media Extension API will also encourage other content parties to implement DRM. As a result, for example, images and text could no longer be searchable and users could no longer block advertisements, the organization says. Software developers could also develop less innovative software.