Chrome 57 Will Permanently Enable DRM

[bill]

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/chrome-57-permanently-enabled-drm,33527.html [tomshardware.com]

Chrome 57 Will Permanently Enable DRM

The next stable version of Chrome (Chrome 57) will not allow users to disable the Widevine DRM plugin anymore, therefore making it an always-on, permanent feature of Chrome. The new version of Chrome will also eliminate the “chrome://plugins” internal URL, which means if you want to disable Flash, you’ll have to do it from the Settings page.

This could have the effect of moving a lot of tech savvy users to Firefox. Seems like Chrome taking advantage of its marketshare to force users into accepting DRM protections. Hopefully Opera and Vivaldi won't be forced down the same path as well.

[creeking]

how much of chrome is open source?

iron browser supposedly turns off some chrome bits. maybe it will turn off drm

[graeme_p]

Use Chromium which is just Chrome without any non-open source extensions. Everything works.

DRM is much the same sort of threat as AMP, but worse - putting control in the hands of a few big businesses.

[bill]

The fear is that this will be pushed into the Chromium level too, which would affect not only that browser, but possibly any of the other Chrome based browsers like Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, etc.

[graeme_p]

How can you have open source DRM code? It has to depend on something that is not open.