Mozilla releases Firefox version with HTML5 drm

Mozilla added HTML5 support for digital rights management to Firefox on Tuesday. The browser maker did not wholeheartedly build in the function, but said there was no other way. Thanks to the DRM support, companies like Netflix can secure their video streams without plugins.

Mozilla announced last year that it wanted to build DRM support into the browser versions for Windows, OS X and Linux. The organization said it was reluctant to do so, because it is fundamentally against the technology. However, the alternative would be that services like Netflix no longer work in Firefox.

Companies like Netflix rely on DRM to prevent users from ripping video streams. Currently, those companies use the drm functionality of plug-ins like Flash and Silverlight to secure their streams, but that technology is outdated. Instead, the HTML5 standard has built-in support for drm. Through the encrypted media extensions API, companies can invoke DRM protection.

For drm support, Mozilla has built in Adobe’s content decryption module, cdm for short. This allows drm content to be served in a wrapper. Cdm will be downloaded automatically as soon as someone updates or installs Firefox. The software is not activated until a site requests it. This includes Netflix, which is currently testing the technology in Firefox.

Mozilla says it has built in several layers of security to prevent drm from being abused. The technology is closed source, which means that no one can access the source code and therefore does not know what the software does exactly. For example, Mozilla allows the software to run in a sandbox by default. Also, a Firefox user can decide to remove cdm from the browser at any time.

Incidentally, Mozilla says it realizes that not everyone is waiting for DRM. That is why the browser maker has now also released a separate version of Firefox without cdm. For those who want to know why Mozilla has come to the support, the organization explains a few things in a so-called teaching kit.