Hollywood is at it again. Its latest ploy to take over the Web? Use its influence at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to weave Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) into HTML5 — in other words, into the very fabric of the Web. Millions of Internet users came together to defeat SOPA/PIPA, but now Big Media moguls are going through non-governmental channels to try to sneak digital restrictions into every interaction we have online. Giants like Netflix, Google, Microsoft, and the BBC are all rallying behind this disastrous proposal, which flies in the face of the W3C's mission to "lead the World Wide Web to its full potential."
Some have mistakenly thought this proposal would finally end the use of proprietary browser plugins like Silverlight and Flash. In reality, this would only make it easier for companies to achieve the same purpose via hooks in HTML itself. The difference would only be on paper; in practice, users would experience the very same unethical restrictions, platform incompatibilities, and device limitations as with proprietary browser plugins.
The W3C can't stop companies from trying to use DRM on the Web, but it can certainly withhold its endorsement and make it clear that it won't help them do their dirty work.