EME provides a regular interface for DRM security of media presented through the browser. EME is not itself a DRM system; rather, it describes how Web content can run with third-party Content Decryption Modules (CDMs) that control the exclusive decryption and rights-control portion.
The addition of EME has been controversial. There are deeply ideological and legal matters; some groups, such as the Free Software Foundation, meet any and all DRM in any setting or application. Some do not complain to DRM, per say, but are affected by regulations such as the US’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act DMCA. Under the DMCA, circumventing DRM is illegal, even if the bypass is designed to enable enterprises that are otherwise legal. These businesses are particularly acute in the context of the Web; for many, the Web should be open, without any kind of technological restrictions on what can be done with Web content. The protection that DRM offers is seen as anathema to this. Furthermore, while browsers themselves can be completely open source, CDMs are built using exclusive, secret code with no source available.
The principal organizations favoring the development of EME have continued streaming media businesses such as Netflix and Microsoft, Google, and Apple, groups that both develop browsers and operate flowing media services. While the use of DRM for permanently licensed music has largely fallen out of favor, DRM security for subscription services, both audio and video, remains alive and well, and the capital has argued that these settings could not exist without some kind of content security. This gives these organizations three options for distributing content: proprietary plugins, such as Flash and Silverlight; proprietary standalone applications in different app stores; or HTML5 video with some kind of DRM system. EME presents this final option.
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