Be careful about proposed technical change to the Web, says UNESCO’s La Rue

[EIREXE]

[QUOTE]03 April 2017

Caution has been expressed by Frank La Rue, Assistant Director General for Communication-Information, in a [URL="https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/eme_letter_frank_la_rue.pdf"]letter[/URL] sent to the [URL="https://www.w3.org"]W3C (link is external)[/URL], a standards-setting body that is considering a change to internet browsing with potentially far-reaching consequences.
The technical change is known as “[URL="https://www.w3.org/2016/03/EME-factsheet"]Encrypted Media Extensions (link is external)[/URL]” (EME), which would become part of the HTML 5 code for the World Wide Web, and therefore standardize how web browsers deal with encrypted video content.
Encryption of video content is something that largely serve the interests of the copyright industry, but it also has significance for network security and content integrity.
If agreed, the new EME standard could mean that internet browsers might increasingly “act as a framed gateway rather than serving as intrinsically open portals”, said La Rue.
In a contribution to the debate on the proposed technical change, he evaluated the issue from the standpoint of UNESCO’s values of the free flow of information and the Organisation’s concept of [URL="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/crosscutting-priorities/unesco-internet-study/internet-universality/"]Internet Universality[/URL].

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[url]https://en.unesco.org/news/be-careful-about-proposed-technical-change-web-says-unesco-s-rue[/url]

relatively old but relevant

[Worstcase]

This was pretty much discussed in full in the EME thread. Allowing these sort of standards to be established will set a dangerous precedent that companies, namely massive corporations that provide a web-based service like Google, Netflix, Facebook,, etc can and absolutely will abuse.

EME just exaggerates existing problems with DRM solutions and DMCA laws. To no one's benefit but corporations.

[nintenman1]

If it is really this anti consumer I suppose we can largely assume it will quietly be rammed through in a behind closed doors deal spurred on by copyright and media conglomerate interests

[EIREXE]

[QUOTE=Worstcase;52210114]This was pretty much discussed in full in the EME thread. Allowing these sort of standards to be established will set a dangerous precedent that companies, namely massive corporations that provide a web-based service like Google, Netflix, Facebook,, etc can and absolutely will abuse.

EME just exaggerates existing problems with DRM solutions and DMCA laws. To no one's benefit but corporations.[/QUOTE]

I actually like to consider EME as anticompetitive and anti innovation, why would anyone bother to create a new, great architecture or operating system if the top CDMs won't run on it? the problem would be bigger if EME gets extended to text too.