EME (Encrypted Media Extensions) is an HTML specification which allows DRM plugins to encrypt web content. The specification was proposed by Netflix, as well as by Google and Microsoft.
The main positive feature of EME was supposed to be that internet users will be able to see more Hollywood content without any plugins, such as Silverlight or Flash, on the web. At the time, Netflix was using a Silverlight player to stream its shows and movies in browsers.
The idea sounded appealing, especially considering Silverlight was getting deprecated by Microsoft, and Flash was known even then for its security issues. In time, most browsers also announced that they would deprecate Flash in favor of HTML alternatives.
However, this was mainly an issue for Netflix, which had to rewrite its web player with HTML. The company also ended up creating native applications anyway, making the web version almost unnecessary. (Although there is a convenience factor to the web version as well, especially for people who are used to do everything in the browser these days.)
Perhaps EME?s biggest flaw is ultimately that it didn?t fulfill its main promise to get rid of plugins. Not only does EME require a DRM plugin for protected content, but it requires one for each browser, for whichever platform you may be using. Microsoft?s Edge browser uses the company?s own Windows 10 native DRM, while Chrome and Firefox use Google?s Widevine DRM. Firefox also uses Adobe?s ?Primetime? DRM plugin.
Therefore, even a single browser may now require two different DRM plugins to play all DRM content. These plugins have their own security issues, but unlike with the Flash vulnerabilities, security researchers are banned from looking for them, due to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). That means malicious hackers, who already engage in other criminal activities, may freely take advantage of all the vulnerabilities they find in these DRM plugins before companies discover them on their own.
Beyond the plugin issue, there may also be an oligopoly issue, because the content market will depend on four, and perhaps soon only three, major DRM services players: Google, Microsoft, and Apple. All of these companies have their own operating systems, so there is also less incentive for them to support other platforms in their DRM solutions.
What that means in practice is that if you choose to use a certain Linux distribution or some completely new operating system, you may not be able to play protected content, unless Google, Microsoft, or Apple decide to make their DRM work on that platform, too.
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