Why can Roku, TVs, Blu-Ray players, etc. have integrated Netflix, but XBMC can't?

Its all about money it always is and for them to make money they need to keep it secure xbmc is way to open source and easily modable for netflix to consider us a secure avenue for their media. And when it comes down to it, its not just netflix its mostly the people they get their content from trying to maintain control over their Intellectual property.

You mention boxee that is xbmc based well doesn't only the boxee box itself have netflix ? the actual software download doesn't ( I may be wrong) but this is also the reason why you can't install xbmc on a boxee box because they locked it all up

And back to Money Boxee and other companies pay Netflix a big arse licencing fee to be able to have it and then they have to promise and make sure its secure before they can release a version with it. hence why boxee box update with it took so long to come out and kept getting delayed because netflix were not happy

I bet when binary add-ons come along someone could rip the Netflix implementation out of the ATV2 or the WDTV Live Plus, reverse engineer it, and make an add-on out of it, hosted on some server in Nauru or the Cayman Islands.

Not that I would ever do this... but I honestly don't have any moral problem with this at all - as long as the add-on makes sure that whoever is using it is a paying subscriber to Netflix streaming service, why should we feel guilty about it?

Actually, if the add-on could be a closed-source binary, there's really no reason I couldn't set up an LLC, license it, and release it as an XBMC add-on.

-Wes

The correct answer is DRM. Because Netflix requires an encrypted stream, the keys to unlock the stream must also be encrypted. Through the miracle of GPL2 (and not GPL3), it is possible to link to protected binaries that can play Netflix, without tainting (i.e. open sourcing) the code.

In theory, this means that, if and when XBMC can play with binary addons, we could theoretically having a working copy of Netflix across platforms. Of course, that's only in theory. I honestly have no idea if Netflix and company would be alright with that or not.

Until binary addons (or until XBMC can link with some form of a proprietary player that bypasses the rest of the GPLed software, which may be how the boxee box does it and which may be one of the big reasons why it's not kosher to install XBMC onto the box), there's no way to handle DRM material that wouldn't make the keys for messing around with that material immediately available to anybody, through the terms of the GPL.

Long story short, tools exist that could make XBMC play nice with the DRM streaming services, but, at least for XBMC, those tools are not ready for prime time.

natethomas Wrote:The correct answer is DRM. Because Netflix requires an encrypted stream, the keys to unlock the stream must also be encrypted. Through the miracle of GPL2 (and not GPL3), it is possible to link to protected binaries that can play Netflix, without tainting (i.e. open sourcing) the code.

In theory, this means that, if and when XBMC can play with binary addons, we could theoretically having a working copy of Netflix across platforms. Of course, that's only in theory. I honestly have no idea if Netflix and company would be alright with that or not.

Until binary addons (or until XBMC can link with some form of a proprietary player that bypasses the rest of the GPLed software, which may be how the boxee box does it and which may be one of the big reasons why it's not kosher to install XBMC onto the box), there's no way to handle DRM material that wouldn't make the keys for messing around with that material immediately available to anybody, through the terms of the GPL.

Long story short, tools exist that could make XBMC play nice with the DRM streaming services, but, at least for XBMC, those tools are not ready for prime time.

Thanks, I was hoping you'd reply. If nothing else, I suppose that is at least a glimmer of hope. I didn't think Netflix would need any kind of encryption key on the client side, I assumed all of the security and authentication happened on the back end. In other words .. request stream without a valid account, Netflix refuses to send data stream. Pass valid credentials over, Netflix OKs it and delivers the content. But I guess I understand why they do it the way you describe.. so people can't rip/record the video streams and save them.

arcooke Wrote:Thanks, I was hoping you'd reply. If nothing else, I suppose that is at least a glimmer of hope. I didn't think Netflix would need any kind of encryption key on the client side, I assumed all of the security and authentication happened on the back end. In other words .. request stream without a valid account, Netflix refuses to send data stream. Pass valid credentials over, Netflix OKs it and delivers the content. But I guess I understand why they do it the way you describe.. so people can't rip/record the video streams and save them.

Yep, the security that xbmc is lacking is the one needed to prevent someone from ripping the content.

That is pretty much required by the contracts Netflix makes with content providers. Content providers want to be able to track how many times their content was accessed. If you record a Netflix movie onto your device and watch the recording a million times, content provider has no idea. But if you stream it from Netflix a million times, then the content provider can negotiate a better contract next time due to increased demand.

That is the same exact reason why Android movies do not play on rooted devices. Contracts simply don't allow it.