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Disney+ Does Not Work On Linux Devices (ghacks.net) 80

Posted by BeauHD from the unpleasant-findings dept.
If you plan on streaming content from the new Disney+ streaming service on Linux devices, you'll likely be greeted with Error Code 83. Fedora Linux package maintainer Hans De Goede from the Netherlands first made the unpleasant discovery. gHacks reports: De Goede noticed that Disney+ would not work in any of the web browsers that he tried on systems running Fedora Linux. He tried Firefox and Chrome, and both times Disney+ threw the error "error code 83." Disney+ Support was not able to assist de Goede. It replied with a generic message stating that the error was known and that it happened often when customers tried to play Disney+ in web browsers or using certain devices. Support recommended to use the official applications on phones or tablets to watch the shows or movies. Other streaming services, e.g. Netflix, work fine on Linux.

A user on the Dutch site Tweakers dug deeper and uncovered the response code that the site returned when a device or browser was used that could not be used to play streams. According to the information, error code 83 means that the platform verification status is incompatible with the security level. Disney uses the DRM solution Widevine to protect its streams from unauthorized activity. Widevine supports three different security levels, called 1, 2 and 3, which have certain requirements. The supported level determines the maximum stream quality and may even prevent access to a stream if the requirements are not met. It appears that Disney set Widevine to a more restrictive level than its competitors. The decision affects Disney+ on Linux devices and on other devices that don't support the selected Widevine security standard.
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Disney+ Does Not Work On Linux Devices More

Disney+ Does Not Work On Linux Devices

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  • Not a user here, but Android is based on linux or its sub-system right?
    • Have you thought about changing your username to SuperShalueth (SuperSleuth)? I think you've stumbled onto something here.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by atisss ( 1661313 )

      Android uses proprietary drivers that are mostly compiled in by system manufacturer, and actual Widevine support is passed to hardware for verification. Afaik Pocophone does have only basic level, so Netflix won't work on it

    • Re:Android? (Score:5, Informative)

      by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:08PM (#59332924) Homepage Journal

      Android is the Linux kernel plus a non-GNU sub-system to make something similar to but not quite Unix. Getting something to work on Android doesn't necessarily translate well to getting it to work on Fedora, Ubuntu, SuSE, Debian, Gentoo, Void, Arch, Alpine, etc.

      • Essentially, Android is not Unix is not GNU is not Unix.

        • GNU is making an honest effort to be Unix. that's the joke with GNU is Not Unix.

          Android has zero interest in being Unix. It's a means to an end. There are new kernel subsystems that are Android specific like Binder and a redesign of some basic Linux functionality like real-time clock. For no real reason other than the Android developers found the de facto standard Linux and Unix way an inconvenience.

    • Re: Android? (Score:3, Informative)

      by aSplash0fDerp ( 6329282 )
      Webvine L1 certification doesn't seem to cover all android devices. https://www.androidauthority.c... [androidauthority.com]

    • Re:Android? (Score:5, Informative)

      by slack_justyb ( 862874 ) on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @08:19AM (#59334630)

      Has nothing to do with the actual OS. This is more with Widevine. Widevine has three levels L1, L2, and L3 and the higher the number the more degraded the security. So L3 is less secure than say L1. Widevine creates a secure execution zone to run in and the level Widevine relates to how much stuff can be done securely. In Intel and AMD architecture this is TPM [wikipedia.org] and on ARM this is TEE [wikipedia.org].

      Level 1 is basically everything is done in the secure zone, that is the reading and decrypting the packets from the net, to decoding the video, and so on. Everything happens within this zone in a Level 1. Level 2 is basically Level 1 but minus video processing. Level 3 is basically secure data until it hits the wires inside your computer.

      Linux has all the pieces in the kernel and in most video card drivers to support Level 1, but usually you have to go out of your way to actually set this up. Since it's not a normal configuration, Google's Widevine libraries "the code that gets all the pieces put together to create the secure environment" just don't have the "recipe" for creating a Level 1 or Level 2 environment. However, Google Chrome on Windows does include a Widevine library that can create such an environment, likewise for Android but instead of a web browser library, it's an actual library that can be called from the runtime. So even if you sat there and got all the pieces together to allow this in Linux, Chrome for Linux comes with a crippled library, so there's no point.

      There's pros and cons to using Level 1 or 2 over Level 3. It's really long and I'm sure someone else will be more than happy to indicate what they are, but basically Level 1 and 2 can be overkill considering that content over streaming services is usually easier to legally get than illegally get. But, I can see the reason why Disney who holds some vast IP might feel Level 1 is appropriate as a lot of their stuff isn't "I've seen it, don't need to see it again" kind of content like say Netflix's content. (that's highly arguable and I've already gone down this rabbit hole long enough). Point being, many streaming services start out Level 1 and eventually downgrade to level 3, Disney might follow, might not. Who knows.

      • There's pros and cons to using Level 1 or 2 over Level 3. It's really long and I'm sure someone else will be more than happy to indicate what they are

        Yeah, the lower the number, the more likely users will have to pirate in order to be able to watch it. So for a company whose IP is completely worthless or where they're trying to lose money, you want level 1 so that no (or almost no) paying users are able to watch the content so everyone pirates it. Whereas with level 3 or without any Widevine at all, anyone

  • Losing battle. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:07PM (#59332910)
    It's fine to implement DRM but they shouldn't try to be so strict, it's a losing battle. No matter what they do their shows will end up in NZB indexers and on Torrent. Just dissuade casual copiers but if they think they're going to stop stream rippers they are fools.

    • Re:Losing battle. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:08PM (#59332928) Homepage Journal

      Worse than a losing battle, it actually encourages legitimate users to pirate content, which is just about the worst possible outcome for any DRM scheme, short of wiping people's hard drives randomly.

      • Re:Losing battle. (Score:5, Informative)

        by Retired ICS ( 6159680 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:12PM (#59332948)

        That is called "The Sony Solution" ...

        • Re:Losing battle. (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @08:20PM (#59333372)

          It's called the DRM solution.

          I mean, take a look at the average progress in this mess.

          1. User rents or otherwise legally ackquires content.
          2. User finds out that it doesn't work as advertised.
          3. User finds out that the help files don't help him at all.
          4. User wastes some hours trying to get it to work.
          5. User fires up some non-legal content provider in frustration.
          6. User downloads rip.
          7. User watches rip.

          What does the user learn? That steps 1-4 are essentially a waste of time.

          • And the next time, user skips steps 1-4. Which means they DRM company does not get their money a second time.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by dgatwood ( 11270 )

              And the next time, user skips steps 1-4. Which means the movie creators do not get their money a second time.

              FTFY.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by bankman ( 136859 )

                And the next time, user skips steps 1-4. Which means the movie creators do not get their money a second time.

                FTFY.

                The movie creators already got their money, it's the distribution channel that's securing itself out of the market

      • Re:Losing battle. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:25PM (#59332982)

        Worse than a losing battle, it actually encourages legitimate users to pirate content

        An even worse outcome is potential Disney viewer discovering there are better things to watch out there than Disney shit and never coming back.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by youngone ( 975102 )
          Disney have their usual two ways of combating that:
          1: Purchase a new law from the government they have already paid for
          2: Purchase any media companies that might compete with Disney.

          Anyway, why would you be using Linux? You're not some sort of communist are you?

        • An even worse outcome is potential Disney viewer discovering there are better things to watch out there than Disney shit and never coming back.

          There is one show that will make me sign up for Disney+, but just until I have seen all episodes: Pick of the Litter. [kidscreen.com]

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • An even worse outcome is potential Disney viewer discovering there are better things to watch out there than Disney shit and never coming back.

          Nice try. But with Disney owning 20th Century Fox and Pixar it's an almost certainty that everyone here (including you) has some of their childhood owned by Disney would love to take a trip down memory lane.

        • An even worse outcome is potential Disney viewer discovering there are better things to watch out there than Disney shit and never coming back.

          Disney+Pixar+Marvel+Lucasfilm+Fox+BlueSky. Etc. Etc. Etc. 90 years of film and video content in the vaults. Disney jump-started the infant ABC television network in 1954 and would go on to be dominant force in every form of home video sales and rental. The geek is delusional if he thinks it won't have the same impact in streaming media,

      • Ironically netflix went a long way to countering that then all these players saw how well they were doing and wanted that pie so came in and split everything up with the result of pushing people who don't fancy a gaggle of subscriptions back to piracy. Greed kills it again.

      • So I'll buy the service but then Bittorrent every show I want to watch on there.

    • Re:Losing battle. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Dunbal ( 464142 ) * on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:27PM (#59332990)
      And as always, the analog hole is still wide open.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by alantus ( 882150 )

        And as always, the analog hole is still wide open.

        Users of companies using DRM already have their analog hole wide open.

      • I understand the "anal hole" part, but what the fuck is an "og"?

      • The analog hole is theoretically closed by CGMS-A, so you still need some equipment to take advantage of it (either a CGMS-A stripper or a capture card that ignores it, your Best Buy DVR won't do). The digital hole, on the other hand, can be exploited purely using software.
    • No, DRM is not fine. What you see here is not an error, it's DRM working as intended. When we warned on this forum that DRM-in-HTML would have led exactly to this outcome, we were told that we were not being pragmatic, that DRM would have helped Linux and so on. Pragmatically enjoy your "premium content" now.</rant>
      • It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kind of situation. Give studios their Widevine and HTML suddenly loses its status as an open format. Don't give studios their Widevine and they will make apps for iOS, Android, OS X and Windows (which are essentially mini-browsers with Widevine) which will only work on 4 operating systems. So, other OSes couldn't jump into the streaming party even if they wanted to accommodate DRM. Also DRM is evil and people should be able to implement a replacement to Widevin
    • I still can't believe Disney is cashing the "perfect DRM" ghost. Hasn't someone told them HDMI has been cracked to bits and all Disney content is available on torrents?

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:09PM (#59332932)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Linux market share will be the tell ... (Score:3)

    by CaptainDork ( 3678879 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:13PM (#59332950)

    ... here and it doesn't look good [statcounter.com].

    Linux is buried down in the background noise.

    • Re:Linux market share will be the tell ... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Ryzilynt ( 3492885 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:28PM (#59332996)

      ... here and it doesn't look good [statcounter.com].

      Linux is buried down in the background noise.

      Yeah...

      Getting a shitty streaming service on my Linux device is about as a high a priority as getting a blue tooth ear piece for my left big toe.

      • Getting a shitty streaming service on my Windows/iOS/Android device is about as a high a priority as getting a blue tooth ear piece for my left big toe.

        So, yeah.

    • Most people simply do not want to install their OS and they dont even know what an OS is. Most people want to buy a computer bring it home and be able to use it with the programs they need such as TurboTax, Word etc. They key to getting more Linux acceptance is more pre-installs but its hard to get computer manufacturers interested given the lack of support by apps and hardware drivers.

      The best shot would have been to have a grand unified effort led by a coalition of computer manufacturers who have an inter

      • "computer manufacturers who have an interest in replacing windows"

        uh, there aren't any. also, welcome back from that 20-year coma; it's 2019 and no one cares about any of that shit. Microsoft won-lost their trial and everyone forgot about it. Apple's worth a trillion dollars, Richard Stallman got just ousted from the FSF, the one search engine that was any good back then is now trying to take over the world, and wait until you find out who's president.

      • Gawd, this again?
        What PC manufacturers are you talking about?
        Apple will not join as they don't use MS.
        Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. - once they sell you the computer, they don't give a shit what OS version is on it. If they all got together to oust MS, then that would be a conspiracy and the vendors who make MS based software would raise holy hell. Shit, most vendors can't write decent code to begin with (just look at how many vendor's software requires a reboot - that is mostly a vendor problem not a MS one). Then

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MeNeXT ( 200840 )

      ... here and it doesn't look good [statcounter.com].

      Linux is buried down in the background noise.

      Did you even read how they got those stats? It says more about them and their users than Internet users.

      • ... here and it doesn't look good [statcounter.com].

        Linux is buried down in the background noise.

        Did you even read how they got those stats? It says more about them and their users than Internet users.

        Did you even post how they got those stats?

        You are discrediting the source with no evidence to make your point.

        Are you acting out a character in the Wizard of Oz?

  • One more reason (Score:5, Funny)

    by jmccue ( 834797 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:34PM (#59333034) Homepage
    So, I cannot stream Disney+ on Linux devices ? Nice, gives me yet another reason to use Linux.

  • Add more systemd (Score:4, Funny)

    by AHuxley ( 892839 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @06:39PM (#59333056) Journal
    Then Linux will be ready for the desktop.

  • Linguistic Pendantry (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ewhac ( 5844 ) on Monday October 21, 2019 @07:25PM (#59333210) Homepage Journal

    The decision affects Disney+ on Linux devices and on other devices that don't support the selected Widevine security standard.

    Could we please stop conflating copy protection with security?

    Security is what you use to stop unauthorized users/activity on your own machine. Copy protection is what you use to stop undesired users/activity on machines that don't belong to you.

  • Has he tried User-Agent Manager and Switcher, and set it up as Windows 10/Firefox, or Windows 10/Chrome.

    I bet it's balking at Linux.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tepples ( 727027 )

      Higher integrity levels on the Widevine CDM require Windows Protected Media Path [wikipedia.org] or something with equivalent copy deterrence power. I doubt anything under X11/Linux qualifies, as DRM under X11/Linux stands for something completely different (Direct Rendering Manager).

  • Disney Restrictions Management. Yep, still works.

  • Thanks for the warning (Score:3)

    by eneville ( 745111 ) on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @12:11AM (#59333862) Homepage

    Thanks for the warning. I won't bother.

    How much of Disney content distribution runs on Linux kernels though? Sad that openness isn't a two-way street.

  • HBOGO is also incopatible with linux for the same reasons
    • Yeah, but nobody watches HBO not that GOT is over. NI Screen are in a panic.

    • I believe this is old information. I watched the last season of game of thrones on linux, and a few other shows and movies before I canceled by subscription. It did just silently fail with previous seasons though. I was watching it through HBONOW not HBOGO but near as I can tell the login page and names are the only differences between those services.

  • If Disney and Apple flop then they will need to move their content back to Netflix. That will be better for us because then we wont have to pay for multiple accounts. So my plan is to stay with Netflix and hope a fragmentation doesn't ruin TV.
    • This is my current opinion on the matter is that there is a service you should subscribe to:

      A VPN.

      Subscribing to a VPN is cheaper than subscribing to any of these other services, and replaces the need to subscribe to any of these other services. Not only can you download and save the content this way, the encoding is also of significantly higher quality.
      • Depends who really owns the vpn. It's bad enough my data going through an ISP, but at least they are regulated and accountable by law. Switching that data over to an unknown vpn owner instead could be be just as bad, or worse, depending on who owns it. Who are vpn owners accountable to?

  • security (Score:2)

    by sad_ ( 7868 )

    "...devices that don't support the selected Widevine security standard"

    keep in mind this has _nothing_ to do with actual security qualities of said devices.
    the security here about their ability to control the 'abuse' of video streams.

  • They really aren't going to do anything to address the issue. Since Linux isn't used that much for desktops.

  • Just curious...

    One is compelled to wonder precisely what security the Linux browser isn't implementing that they are even detecting some sort of problem.

    What about running a browser under WINE?

  • Thanks Disney!

  • I mean, the mouse looks friendly and all, but they own almost all the cool sci-fi now and won't run on Linux. Sounds evil to me.

  • Not that I expect they'll care or anything, but I *was*, until I saw this, giving some thought to getting this service when it became available in Canada. If I can't access it within a Linux browser, then I won't be bothered with it. I'll just stick with buying DVD's.

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