Websites that otherwise wouldn't have used DRM start to use it, that's what changes.

If you can point to one example of a website that implements DRM that otherwise wouldn't have, I'll buy this argument.

On the other side, I can point to many websites that removed Flash/Silverlight/other security nightmare plugins after implementing EME.

> If you can point to one example of a website that implements DRM that otherwise wouldn't have, I'll buy this argument.

The argument that some companies will avoid things their customers hate seems illogical, but you'll believe me if I provide an anecdote?

> On the other side, I can point to many websites that removed Flash/Silverlight/other security nightmare plugins after implementing EME.

Which is irrelevant because it has had a long known solution: Only install terrible plugins in a virtual machine, or if you're paranoid on a separate physical machine (a used PC capable of playing HD video is <$50), and only use that machine for that purpose.

And yes, that is an inconvenience, which is a feature, because DRM should be as inconvenient as possible. So that fewer people will use it.

The argument is that nobody will go out of their way to implement DRM unless they are contractually obliged. As preposterous as your scenario sounds to me, I will grant you the argument if you can find a website that goes through the trouble to do it even though they don't have to. Note that this isn't an "anecdote" but a counterexample that disproves my proposition.

> Which is irrelevant because it has had a long known solution

Your "solution" is not a solution for 99.99% of web users, and it isn't a solution for the remaining .01% who have to deal with botnets created from the other 99.99%.

> The argument is that nobody will go out of their way to implement DRM unless they are contractually obliged.

The less customers like something, the less willing a company will be to sign a contract obligating them to do it.

> Your "solution" is not a solution for 99.99% of web users

One device used only for watching media is called a television and something like 99.99% of Americans actually have one already.

exactly. which is how it should be: a pain in the ass for your customers if you want them to install drm.

the cost should be born by the company who wants it, not the public.

why is this a bad thing for anybody but a content producer? and if it's not anybody else, then... why do we care? we have already legislated away the right to copy something in return for promoting creation. but the creation is going to happen one way or the other, so we need to go much further than the EFF advocates: we need to scale back copyright drastically.

it would have virtually zero cost to the public, and would not meaningfully affect creative output.

Ad networks are waiting for this in order to move a lot of ad code to a place where they can make ad-blocking illegal.

They have a lot of pull among a huge number of sites that depend on ad revenue.

Start buying this argument.

The web browsers already support this API. Where are the ad networks serving DRM ads claiming that blocking ads is illegal? On what basis does blocking ads constitute copyright infringement in order to justify prosecution under DMCA?

The security holes that the standard introduces into my browser.

If I can compile it out, or get a version that someone I trust has compiled with it removed, that only leaves the rest of the web as a botnet attack surface.

That's what changes. Or doesn't improve, depending on how one views the timeline.

> If I can compile it out, or get a version that someone I trust has compiled with it removed

You can. https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2015/05/12/mozil...

> that only leaves the rest of the web as a botnet attack surface.

1. Every new feature added to the web platform increases the attack surface of the browser, so this concern is not unique to EME. In this case, it removed a reason somebody would otherwise install Flash, which has a significantly larger attack surface.

2. All the major web browsers implemented EME before it became a standard, so the standardization of EME does not change anything here.