Stealing content was never easier than with HTML5
HTML5 makes adding video and audio content to your site very easy but there is currently no way to protect that content. If we’re all completely honest we know that content protection is still a big deal for record companies, movie studios, and TV channels, yet HTML5 puts their content just up for grabs. Let me give you a few examples.
Unnamed video site
Video site X just rolled out a brand new HTML5 video player. Like I said, HTML5 makes it really easy to add video content to your site but it makes it equally easy to download that content. It only takes a “view source” to find the URL to the video file. Some video sites have also noticed that and are now building custom JavaScript based players in an attempt to make it more difficult to get to the video file. On this one site I counted almost 3000 lines of JavaScript code for a rather basic video player with sharing functionality. 3000 lines of code and it still only took me three clicks to download the video file! I already hear some of you saying that you can also easily get the video file from a Flash based video player. If you use progressive download that is completely true. I’ll get back to that later in this post.
Unnamed new music discovery site
The release of the beta version of this new music discovery site is actually what sparked the idea to write this post. As per usual the tech blogs were buzzing about it as a new music discovery site that didn’t use Flash because Flash is dead. So I checked it out… This particular site gives you unrestricted access to the entire music library. I was able to look up any artist and play back any song in high quality… I can also buy the song on the site for the industry standard $0.99. But with just two clicks I was able to download any song from any artist straight to my desktop without actually buying it. No need for torrents or the risk of downloading viruses. It’s all right there on this official music discovery site in high quality AAC audio (in an M4A file).
Flash
I already mentioned that it’s also pretty easy to download a file used in a Flash based media player if the site uses progressive download. The difference between HTML5 and Flash in this case is that you CAN protect your content when using Flash. As there still is no standard audio/video codec in the HTML5 spec there also is no way to stream video and audio content using HTML5 across different browsers. Companies (including Apple) have been experimenting with streaming technologies but I’m sure you remember that that only worked in a specific version of Safari on a specific version of iOS. The HTML5 spec also has no guidelines for any sort of content protection.
Flash does work cross browser and cross platform (as I’m sure all of you know). With the use of Flash Media Server you can also completely protect that content and get the added benefits of features such as adaptive streaming (to adapt to changing connection speeds), reduced bandwidth usage, DRM, multicasting, peer to peer delivery, and more. Bottom line: Flash is still the best platform to stream (premium) video and audio content.
Video: Brightcove about Flash Player 10.1 on mobile devices
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, I bumped in to Cameron Church from Brightcove. We talked about the Brightcove Mobile Experience and Cameron explains how Flash Player 10.1 expands Brightcove’s reach to smart phone users.
For more info about Brightcove, check out brightcove.com.
Where to watch the Michael Jackson memorial online
Today we say goodbye to one of the biggest (if not the biggest) pop icons of our time. Some already call this the media event of the century. Over 1.6 million people registered to get a ticket for the event in Los Angeles. Only 8700 people were selected.
This is surely going to be an event that is going to watched by many. If not on TV, then most certainly on the web. I watched that other big event earlier this year (Obama’s inauguration) live on CNN.com with no hiccups whatsoever so I’ll probably watch the memorial there as well. I thought it was a good idea to give a quick overview on where you can watch the event online.
CNN.com (CNN is teaming up with Facebook)
FoxNews
ABCnews
CBSnews (using uStream.tv)
Hulu (Not available outside the US)
USAToday (Using Livestream.com)
NYTimes
MySpace
MSN/MSNBC
E! Online (via Justin.tv)
Coincidentally/As far as I know all of the above are using Flash to stream this event to no doubt hundreds of thousands of viewers. Yes… You are right… This post should not be about promoting the Flash Platform.
(Image by Kristof Saelen)
(Via NewTeeVee.com)
The power of the Flash Platform part 3: Video
Remember the “old” days where you had to struggle with bandwidth selectors, video player choices and codec nightmares before you could watch a video online? I know it’s kind of a bold statement, but Flash really did change all that and the continuously increasing Flash Video market share proves that. I also often hear people complain about the quality of Flash Video. Most of the time, these people don’t know that Flash Player can actually play high definition video up to 1080p using the H.264 industry standard video codec.
But Flash Video is about more than just video. With Flash, you can easily make your video interactive. A piece of video in a Flash project is just like any other visual object. You can animate it, change it’s dimensions, layer it with other videos, make it interactive, … Heck… You can even personalize it. No other web technology currently available on 99% of all Internet-connected PCs is able to do this. And bloggers who claim otherwise should get their facts straight. (Are you reading this TechCrunch?)
Flash Video is everywhere and sites like YouTube, Vimeo and many other like it would not be as popular today without Flash Video! Traditional media companies like the New York Times, CNN, ABC, MSNBC also use Flash for the delivery of their video content. Hollywood studios use it on Hulu and the recently announced Epix site.
But like I said, Flash Video isn’t just about playing on demand video. Lots of people also use it for live video every day. Sites like UStream, Justin.tv, Qik and FlixWagon allow users to quickly setup a live video stream and stream it to hundreds of viewers. Ever sent a recorded video message to someone on FaceBook or Tokbox?
So how about interactive video? There are tons of amazing examples out there! Remember the immensely popular Elf Yourself campaign? Or what about those really cool augmented reality cases? Augmented reality is actually another great example of how Flash changes the web. AR has been around for years now but it wasn’t until the recent availability of the FLARToolkit that the technology was used online and even in campaigns for big brands like Doritos, Jack Link’s and Microsoft.
Flash on!
White House streaming live with Flash
Imagine you are the most powerful man on the planet. You want to organize a town hall meeting online so that anyone anywhere can view the meeting online without having to install anything new. Which technology would you choose? The answer is simple: Flash.
Barack Obama just started an online town hall meeting where he will answer the questions people could submit and vote for online. I’m currently on a hotel network and it’s still streaming in nicely.
They are streaming this using Flash Media Server 3.5 (the latest version of FMS) which does dynamic streaming and even allows you to pause the live broadcast. Check it out on http://www.whitehouse.gov/openforquestions/
Flash on!
Flash Video market share continues to grow
In a press release yesterday, comScore released the latest “Video Metrix” numbers. Once again, these numbers are record breaking and impressive!
In December 2008, Internet users in the US watched 14.3 billion online videos (yes… 14.3 billion videos in one month!). A big chunk of those were watched using Flash technology. I don’t have the specific numbers yet but looking at the list of video sites surveyed, I think it’s safe to say that Flash Video is the absolute number one video format on the web. In fact, 41 percent of all those videos were watched on YouTube.
The other numbers in this press release are absolutely amazing:
- 78.5 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
- The average online video viewer watched 309 minutes of video, or more than 5 hours.
- 98.9 million viewers watched 5.9 billion videos on YouTube.com (59.2 videos per viewer). YouTube uses Flash Video.
- 48.7 million viewers watched 367 million videos on MySpace.com (7.6 videos per viewer). MySpace uses Flash Video.
- The duration of the average online video was 3.2 minutes.
- The duration of the average online video viewed at Hulu was 10.1 minutes, higher than any other video property in the top ten. Hulu uses Flash Video.
I think it’s pretty obvious that the Flash Video market share continues to grow. Then again, when 99% all internet users can watch Flash Video, why wouldn’t you use Flash Video? ;-) Go Flash!
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