Widevine Updates – March 2021
The following might be of interest to users of Widevine DRM. Widevine is going through a set of software updates, the goal of which is to improve security and hopefully performance as well, or at least our hope is that performance and device support will remain the same.
The most immediate update is a change of the process that Widevine is using to distribute the device certificate status list (DCSL). The list contains all authorized widevine clients and the statuses they are in. Until March 31, 2021 it is possible to obtain this list by submitting a “POST” request to a commonly available URL. Anyone who knows this URL can access the list and download the dcsl file. Starting March 31, 2021, the file format and its access is changing. The file is now accessible to authorized users who can access it either through a Widevine issued certificate or through authorized web api. Only certified Widevine Partners can access this file, who can then securely distribute it to their customers. While this change does not affect clients or applications that interface with an end user, please ensure that your Widevine service provider has updated their servers.
Another anticipated server change will come in the form of a new server SDK to support new browser CDM expected to be released in the second or third quarter of this year. This too will be a mandatory server change your providers will have to keep on their horizon of activities.
Many of our clients run into issues related to personalization of their devices. You might have read our earlier blog about the different types of personalization that are available on Android native applications and devices that support in browser (Chrome) playback. While we say Chrome, most of the browsers are not de-facto Chrome browsers (Firefox, Edge, …), therefore the impact is wide reaching. For the Apple devices such as iPads and iOS, you will soon be required to update CDM to Version 15, which will only be available and supported CDM with future version of iOS and iPad operating systems.
If you and your team would like to learn more, please feel free to reach out to us at info@ideanovatech.com
Posted By
Linda Oglesbee
