Google, Microsoft, Netflix: We Want To Add DRM To HTML5
Google, Microsoft and Netflix have proposed changes to the HTML5 standard that could see DRM added to HTML5 videos.
In a document titled "Encrypted Media Extensions v0.1", which was submitted to W3C's HTML Working Group, the group responsible for handling HTML5 standards, the web giants called for DRM to be added to HTML5 streaming videos, in the same way DRM is available for Flash videos.
HTML5's media element has often been portrayed as an official alternative to Flash, which requires browser based plug-ins in order for videos to work. HTML5 videos, on the other hand, would be natively supported by the browser without the need to install any additional software (at least theoretically, although a major disagreement over the choice of video codec is causing fragmentation amongst HTML5 compatible browsers).