Netflix Says No To Unlocked Android Smartphones (androidpolice.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Last week Netflix app started showing up as "incompatible" on the Play Store for rooted and unlocked Android devices. However, the app itself continued to work fine, leading some to think it could have been an accident. However, Netflix has now confirmed to blog AndroidPolice that blocking modified devices from downloading the app was intentional. This is the full statement: "With our latest 5.0 release, we now fully rely on the Widevine DRM provided by Google; therefore, many devices that are not Google-certified or have been altered will no longer work with our latest app and those users will no longer see the Netflix app in the Play Store."

Comments

So pirate?

[borcharc]

Netflix works because it is easier than piracy. Ejecting the very small number of rooted android users won't stop people ripping Netflix content when you can still watch the movies on a computer...

Re:So pirate?

[MightyMartian]

MST3K The Return for one...

But I'm glad you get along fine. Some of us like to watch TV. I realize you are a superior human being in every possible way, but do take pity upon us lower life forms and our cheap entertainments. We have ascended the spheres as you have. Mind you, I bet you do miss the dildos.

Re:So pirate?

[AthanasiusKircher]

While I imagine there will be a bunch of Netflix hate here, I'd assume this is at least partly to conform to licensing standards insisted on by content creators. Obviously Netflix is becoming a major content creator, so they have self-interest here too, but the less "locked down" their service, the harder it will likely be for them to get 3rd-party licensed content.

Re:So pirate?

[sl3xd]

Ejecting the very small number of rooted android users won't stop people ripping Netflix content when you can still watch the movies on a computer...

There's a lot to be said that they probably don't care about the very small number of users who have rooted their phones; it will negatively affect a small number of users, but the impact to their bottom line is almost certainly lower than if they had to license (or develop) a different DRM system that would accommodate rooted phones.

Re:So pirate?

[Orphis]

Exactly, from experience, the tech company doesn't always have a say in the technology they use if they want to have access to content from large distributors.

Re:So pirate?

[green1]

There's always the other option.
DON'T DEVELOP A DRM SYSTEM AT ALL!

There are many advantages to this approach:
1) you don't piss off your rooted users (even if a small number)
2) it's much cheaper to implement
3) it has EXACTLY the same effect on piracy as a full blown billion dollar DRM scheme.

Re:So pirate?

[AmiMoJo]

It's security theatre, for the benefit of copyright holders who don't understand computers but were told by a DRM salesman they needed it to stop everyone watching for free.

Re:So pirate?

[Grishnakh]

The problem here is that the companies they license content from won't allow them to simply not use DRM. Netflix could go this route, and then they wouldn't have any 3rd-party content at all.

Personally, I have two thoughts about this:

1) Who watches TV shows on their *phone*??? Honestly, I can't even imagine.

2) Why does the phone need to be non-rooted? I use Netflix just fine on my Linux system, by using Google Chrome (it's the only thing I use that browser for in fact). I don't have to have a corporate-controlled OS, only a corporate-controlled DRMed browser for that one purpose. So why can't Netflix do things that way on phones for those weirdos who want to watch Netflix on a phone?

Re:So pirate?

[darkain]

Android isn't just phones, it is also set top TV boxes now. Many of those devices come pre-rooted, making the entire market for those devices totally fucked in terms of Netflix now.

Re:So pirate?

[TheRaven64]

What's in it for them? We didn't get away from DRM on music because the big four woke up one day and realised that DRM was anti-consumer. We got away from DRM on music because the big four woke up one day and realised that their insistence on DRM had given Apple a huge amount of control over their distribution channel and the only way to regain this control was to allow other distributors (and, eventually, Apple) to sell music without DRM. Netflix wants to have the same control over movie and TV show distribution that Apple had over music distribution at the height of iPod and iTunes Music Store popularity and the studios seem not to have realised that DRM helps Netflix, not them and so are making it a requirement for distribution. It doesn't do anything to prevent piracy, but it sure adds to be barrier to entry for anyone wanting to start up a Netflix competitor (want to support all of the mutually incompatible set-top boxes that all have Netflix clients? You'll need to develop a load of client apps. Of course, almost all of them can already play back DRM-free H.264...).

Re:So pirate?

[spire3661]

Everyone here knows that this is the beginning of having no control over your device at all. As time goes on, ONLY certified devices will be able to use popular services. Ads will become completely unblockable. Having root will eventually arouse as much suspicion as owning lockpicks.

Re:So pirate?

[Solandri]

1) Who watches TV shows on their *phone*??? Honestly, I can't even imagine.

Kids, when the parents want them to shut up for 3 minutes at a restaurant so they can place their order with the waitress without constantly having to yell at Billy to stop pulling Susie's hair.

2) Why does the phone need to be non-rooted? I use Netflix just fine on my Linux system, by using Google Chrome (it's the only thing I use that browser for in fact). I don't have to have a corporate-controlled OS, only a corporate-controlled DRMed browser for that one purpose. So why can't Netflix do things that way on phones for those weirdos who want to watch Netflix on a phone?

Because of Hollywood's paranoia that you're going to capture the digital stream and save a copy to rip the movie. They require the movie remain encrypted from reading, to video decode, to display. Hollywood approves two types of playback devices for DRM media (streams, Blu-rays, DVDs, etc).

• A hardware device. The manufacturer or app maker submits the device to Hollywood for approval. Hollywood looks it over, determines it's secure, and gives it their stamp of approval. This is why Netflix came out on iOS before Android. Netflix only had to submit a handful of iPhones and iPads for approval. They had to submit hundreds of Android devices for approval.
• A general purpose computing device. On these, to satisfy Hollywood, the DRM decryption and video decode has to be done inside an encrypted virtual machine. The drawback of this is that the playback program cannot use dedicated video playback hardware in the GPU - that would require the unencrypted data stream be sent to the GPU, which would then produce an unencrypted video stream. That's a no-no to Hollywood, so PCs and browsers unencrypt the video completely in software inside an encrypted virtual machine (which is why the browser players always use Flash or Silverlight, instead of HTML 5 - its the only way to create a virtual machine in a browser). The extra power consumption for this inefficient method of decoding makes this approach unfeasible for a mobile device like a phone or tablet.

If you use a phone or tablet just as an app platform, then it functions like a hardware device and there's no problem. But if you root it, you can begin using it like a general purpose computing device. Someone could conceivably write a program to intercept the unencrypted data stream the Netflix app is sending to the phone's GPU for video decode, and save a copy to effectively rip the movie. Hollywood has probably been pushing Netflix and Google to plug this hole for years. Limiting Netflix to non-rooted devices is probably Netflix's concession to satisfy Hollywood.

Re:So pirate?

[MightyMartian]

I watch like four hours a week of TV, even less for the last few weeks as I've been studying my ass off for a final. But why should I be ashamed of liking dumbass TV shows? If the alternative is being a humorless alt-right troll who gets his jollies being a sociopathic prick on the Internet, then I'll take the idiot box.

But it's rooted...

[Anonymous Coward]

...surely you can make the Netflix app think it's on a walled-garden phone. You have root rights!

Re:But it's rooted...

[green1]

You'd think,

But for all the brilliant developers out there, nobody has ever created any way of bypassing root detection on phones.

You'd think it would be a no brainer, sandbox the app, and feed it the inputs it wants so it thinks it's on a stock device, but somehow nobody has ever done that.

Instead there have been hundreds of different services that pretend to hide the fact that your phone is rooted, but not one of them ever works.

Why can't someone develop an app sandbox? a virtual machine of some form? sure it may slow the app down a bit, but with the power of today's phones, I can't imagine it would be enough to matter.

Re:But it's rooted...

[HornWumpus]

You are 'someone'...do it.

Re:But it's rooted...

[ctilsie242]

There used to be an app called RootCloak that worked on the XPosed framework, which when given an application list, would prevent a program from seeing if SuperSU was present or a su binary was installed in the usual directories. However, both the XPosed framework and RootCloak have not been updated for any new release of Android. I used to use this to allow SoftCard to run ages ago.

Re:But it's rooted...

[hackel]

What are you talking about? Magisk works just fine.

It's obviously going to be a continuous cat and mouse game until the corporations finally just give up and realise they're spending millions of dollars to defeat an extremely small minority of users. Imagine if they tried to do this for Windows PCs...there would be a riot.

Re:Unlocking?

[MightyMartian]

If Netflix wants to stay in good with the content providers, it needs to make these shows of strength. This affects such a small group that it's worth a few grumpy rooted phone owners just to show Hollywood they mean business.

Idiocy

[Chas]

Yeah, because if I want to steal content, the FIRST device I think of for doing so is MY FUCKING PHONE.

Riiiight.

Never mind that a desktop (or even a laptop) PC is orders of magnitude more powerful and possesses FAR more options for absconding with the content...

Re:Idiocy

[green1]

This is a common theme. Many programs won't run on a rooted phone, but happily run on a computer with admin rights. Unfortunately the most likely "solution" to this obvious double standard isn't for them to start working on rooted phones, it's for users to stop having admin rights on their computers.

Re:Idiocy

[HornWumpus]

Even admins, should not routinely login as admin or equivalent. Applications/services/daemons that need admin, get admin to only the resources they need. Spend the time.

Re:Unlocking?

[fred6666]

they really believe people are going to use smartphones to rip shows?

Re:Unlocking?

[tepples]

they really believe people are going to use smartphones to rip shows?

Even if Netflix doesn't believe this, one or more publishers licensing motion pictures to Netflix is likely to believe this.

Netflix can survive without the tech savvy

[sqorbit]

My mother-in-law doesn't care what device she uses, nor does she know the difference between iOS and Android. If you had to have a conversation about a "rooted" device it would probably be painful. Netflix major push is it's own created content and major TV shows and producers. The want control over their content. This is watched by everyone and available on smart tv's, roku, Xbox, iPads, etc. Netflix can piss off some people who are using their devices in more technical ways and it will never touch their bottom line. This move will though make those producing the content happier because they can control the content. You can't really argue with a good business move.

Bah!

[therealspacebug]

Bye bye Netflix. Welcome back torrents.

Not good for security

[Tukz]

The only thing this does is forcing rooted android users to install Netflix from unofficial installers.

If you can root your phone, you know how to install .apk packages without Google Play Store. They won't be able to find a verified package.

Re:Doesn't matter...

[Grishnakh]

why would I want anything that would actually encourage me to watch MORE television and as a result, eat MORE crap, and get lest exercise?

Assuming you meant "less exercise", do you spend all your free time doing exercise? What about when it's raining or storming outside?

Not that I spend much time watching movies or TV (I don't have a TV, just my computer, which I sometimes watch Netflix on), but while I like cycling and hiking, I don't do those things if it's pouring rain or ridiculously hot or cold outside, and sometimes I like to just watch an episode of something in the evening before I go to sleep. I sure as hell am not going to go take a bike ride at 11PM.

Kodi boxes

[Comboman]

I don't think this is targeting the small number of people with rooted Android phones; it's targeting the large (and growing) number of people who use Android-OS-based TV boxes running Kodi with unauthorized streaming plug-ins (a.k.a. "Kodi Boxes").

Re:Seriously?

[drinkypoo]

Or more precisely, the projected cost-driven purchases by people who already owned a perfectly good DVD player exceeded the projected cost-driven purchases by people who wanted to avoid paying for both a DVD player and a game console.

I don't think that's how the math worked. I think it was "how much cheaper do we have to be than the competitors before we attract people who make final purchasing decisions based on price". DVD support would have required only minor changes to the optical drive to improve its longevity, and actually developing a DVD player app, and of course paying the licensing fees which I suspect was the single largest driver of the decision. If the competition had charged that much more (however much the amount at which Nintendo balked) they might have thrown it in simply to catch sales from those people who want a converged device. The Wii would have been one of the smallest DVD players on the market; its size actually compares favorably with the smaller end of the DVD player market today, and it certainly was competitive on that basis at the time.

It's about ads

[nightfire-unique]

This one is easy.

$50 bet: Netflix is planning to start introducing ads to their paying customers. Disabling the service on rooted devices is a measure to prevent people from blocking them.