Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it will actually avoid any of the proprietary mess. The encryption/decryption framework is still based on proprietary blobs that will have to be distributed. And they can be distributed with prejudice.
That is, just because you're on a browser that supports this exchange standard doesn't mean that you'll have access to the blob that actually does the decrypting. The major distributors will just continue their current strategy of platform/device lock-in.
I had gone into this thinking it would be a cool way to easily allow protected/authenticated cross-platform playback. But it does nothing of the sort. Content providers will still discriminate, and we'll be powerless to stop them. This just provides a common API for their discrimination. So... I guess that's something?
That is, just because you're on a browser that supports this exchange standard doesn't mean that you'll have access to the blob that actually does the decrypting. The major distributors will just continue their current strategy of platform/device lock-in.
I had gone into this thinking it would be a cool way to easily allow protected/authenticated cross-platform playback. But it does nothing of the sort. Content providers will still discriminate, and we'll be powerless to stop them. This just provides a common API for their discrimination. So... I guess that's something?