Los Gatos, Calif. – Netflix (NASD: NFLX) has not yet made its streaming
video service available for Android devices because of a lack of secure digital
rights management (DRM) on the platform, the company said in a blog post.
The
mobile version of the company’s Instant Streaming feature has already launched
for iPhone and Windows Phone 7 devices.
"The hurdle has been the lack of a
generic and complete platform security and content protection mechanism
available for Android," Netflix product manager Greg Peters wrote on the
company’s blog.
"The same security issues that have led to piracy concerns
on the Android platform have made it difficult for us to secure a common
Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on these devices. Setting aside the
debate around the value of content protection and DRM, they are requirements we
must fulfill in order to obtain content from major studios for our subscribers
to enjoy."
The company’s solution will be to work with individual Android
handset makers on content protection, meaning that streaming will only be
available on select Android phones, beginning early next year.
"We believe that providing the service
for some Android device owners is better than denying it to everyone,"
Peters added.
Related Links:
http://blog.netflix.com/2010/11/netflix-on-android.html
