Not possible to enable DRM content streaming in Firefox

Hardware Librem 5
1

Why is the option to enable streaming of DRM content missing from Firefox?!

2

Because DRM requires closed-source code, which goes against Purismā€™s founding values: providing only liberated software, which is possible to inspect and modify by the user. Digital Restrictions Management is not that, so we do not ship it.

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EDIT: In Firefox, I see the option to stream DRM content in settings, under General:

firefox
firefox760Ɨ328 26.2 KB

EDIT 2: I see this is posted under phones. Itā€™s possible that the options you see on the Librem 5 are different than on another Purism computer (Iā€™m on a Mini).

4

The founding values appear to vary per machine. :slight_smile:
I hazzard a guess, the mini has Firefox installed without the ESR suffix.

5

Its a hard fight. Try to stream that with your not privacy orianted gaming console or less important smartphone.

Its about the extraction of data. Using a DRM-Media stream is much more privacy related like to have some old, without Internet DRM DVD, Blueray or offline DRM Gameing usage.

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6

Regardless, Firefox itself (Mozilla Foundation) has always taken a more permissive approach of being open to being closed i.e. by including dodgy code. :wink:

On top of that, it will depend on what distro a customer is using on the Mini. It could be PureOS but it could be e.g. Debian or Ubuntu or Mint, or something outside the Debian family. @leetaur ?

ā€œESRā€ (Extended Support Release) is not directly relevant. Yes, it could mean that two releases of Firefox are based on two different versions of Firefox (the ESR version typically being older) - but either of them could include or exclude the dodgy code. If you are really making a comparison between two different versions of Firefox, just use Help / About Firefox to get the actual version.

For comparison, my desktop is at Firefox 109.0 and it does include the dodgy code and from time to time Firefox asks me whether I want to enable dodgy code but so far I have always declined.

Closed source code, by definition, canā€™t be built by a third party. So if a build already exists for x86 CPUs then a distro can choose to include it, or not. Ditto for ARM CPUs. But if a build does not exist for a given CPU then it canā€™t be included period.

Maybe look to see whether there is a flatpak Firefox that contains the dodgy code. Or, if that fails, explore other browsers, since they can all differ in what they include and what they exclude.

7

You might want also to read the paragraphs on Encrypted Media Extensions in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox#Standards

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8

Yes, as linked article confirms:

As correlated here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viDsl58VKNo and as correlated even before EU went through the same process:

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It is about that @wimdows question isnā€™t obsolete and that i.MX8MQ have capability to stream whatever Librem 5 owner wants it to stream (as ignoring environment in which we live now, in 2023, is not thoughtful nor helpful approach either, although Iā€™m not about to provide any direct help here as still unsure if one exists, as probably non-free related).

EDIT: https://w3c.github.io/encrypted-media/.

EDIT II:

How about: Google Widevine DRM option is grayed out in Purebrowser. Nightly version might help but Iā€™m having no time to test this.

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I am running PureOS (byzantium) on the Mini. Using Firefoxā€™s Help-About, it is version 102.7.0esr (64-bit).

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I tried to use the Widevine for DRM streaming on L5 but it failed, because i found no 64Bit ARM-Package of Widevine.

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12

Then @wimdows does appear to be raising a valid point about a discrepancy in the packaging of Firefox for PureOS on Mini v. Librem 5. Whether thatā€™s an x86 v. ARM difference, or something else I donā€™t know.

And that is just one more reason why closed source is evil.

13

I am aware of the pitfalls of streaming this stuff. But the L5 offers a very decent video quality, so it seems a bit of a waste not to use it for watching my local cable television companies offerings, the archives of our local tv-stations, things on netflix, youtube (which already works, btw), etcetera.

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This ā€œworksā€ sounds to me like self-explanatory as in accordance with the following link: https://www.xda-developers.com/google-is-deprecating-widevine-for-chromium/?

Iā€™ll stay calm anyway: https://www.eff.org/issues/drm.

15

because itā€™s not using DRM?

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16

Well, you fell precisely into one of the pitfalls of this stuff: as far as I can tell, itā€™s not possible to use DRM even if you want to, because thereā€™s no Linux/ARM version. Youā€™re at the mercy of the powers that want to restrict, and those donā€™t care. Now youā€™re powerless to watch videos only because someone went out of their way to make it harder, which is precisely why we protest against closed software and DRM in particular.

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17

I guess so. I just mentioned it because it belongs to the dark side as well.

18

Well, it would have been nice to be able to watch ā€˜cableā€™ on my L5 and maybe even Netflix. But it is no biggy if I canā€™t. There are always my Ubuntu desktop (connected to my dumb tv) and tablet (Windows) for that.
Listening to music (Spotify or internet radio) on my phone are way more important to me. And they both work. (Although the bluebooth connection to my speakers and hifi set could be better, I must say.)

19

Good choice of words, because, following the meme, DRM is why we canā€™t have nice things.

To preempt accusations of powerless ranting, I recommend everyone to take political action, because law is what makes avoiding DRM illegal in some countries.

Also, consider getting engaged with the FSFE, and check out https://www.defectivebydesign.org/

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In my opinion: The only possible way to play DRM ressources on Librem 5 is to use the 32Bit Widevine from the Google-Chrome-Project an include it into a 32 Bit Firefox or Chrome Browser. Thats the way of other Linux ARM distributions ā€¦

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