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What is the best way to access DRM Flash sites like Hulu or YouTube using the Raspberry?

I have a Neuros (Ubuntu) box on the same network that runs these sites now using the Flash plug-in.

tlhIngan
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jcalfee314
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    VLC network streamer? – ArchHaskeller Aug 05 '12 at 19:05
  • I think it is a question of architecture. Hulu only allows paid subscribers to use embedded devices. I believe Adobe reports when it is on the ARM architecture. In other words, I doubt that this can be done on the Raspberry at this time. An Android Mini USB PC and a android app called Flash Video Browser might work. I have not tried it yet though. – jcalfee314 Aug 05 '12 at 23:17
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    What OS do you have? tried Raspbmc? or OpenELEC? http://forum.stmlabs.com/showthread.php?tid=1404 – ArchHaskeller Aug 05 '12 at 23:58
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    Are there any DRMd Youtube videos? – Alex Chamberlain Aug 06 '12 at 14:41

2 Answers2

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I've been playing with VLC on a desktop computer the last few weeks. Now, please bear with me a moment...

VLC can play natively the FLV and MP4 files that Youtube uses. You just have to know the correct URL. And for the last few years, VLC has had this functionality where you can script it to take the URL of some arbitrary webpage and extract the video URLs, which then play. You can literally take the URL for some particular video (page), open it in VLC, and it will play automatically, by default.

But the script they include to play a whole list of Youtube videos was broken. I fixed it myself last night. As it turns out, they're just regexing the video URLs out of the html source. No DRM. No fancy URL obfuscation in javascript. Haven't really checked out Hulu, I imagine that stuff is locked down pretty tight though.

John O
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  • And the fix was? – Chris Stratton Aug 06 '12 at 15:05
  • Parse the html and extract the video url. No drm after all. – John O Aug 06 '12 at 15:38
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    Just for reference, directly accessing the video from the flv/mp3 links is against the policy on those sites like youtube and may be against the law, which is the answer you get when asking about this sort of thing on a forum for one of those sites. I'm not saying there's another way to access the videos, but legal provisions have a habit of ignoring the real world. – AlanSE Aug 06 '12 at 19:13
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    I've never agreed to use any particular client for those websites. I'm not breaking any promises. One should be careful of the law, I suppose... but past that, I enjoy watching Youtube in VLC. It's pretty snazzy. – John O Aug 07 '12 at 02:27
  • Have you ever watched a video on the Youtube website? As that would constitute agreeing to their T&Cs... – Alex Chamberlain Aug 07 '12 at 06:38
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    No, agreeing would constitute agreeing. If someone could just make up the rules as to what constitutes agreement, then I could say that your comment above constitutes agreement to be my slave for the next 10 years. If Youtube doesn't like this, then they can make it opt-in, where no one is allowed to view until they've signed and notarized the agreement. – John O Aug 07 '12 at 13:11
  • I think this will require some testing .. you'll probably be stuck with Adobe Flash as that is well supported and DRM compliant. Then, the question is what is the best way to run flash on the platform.. ubuntu / chrome, android, etc... At one point I read that Adobe would be supporting Flash in Chrome. This works for the terms of service .. Remember, Hulu is important for a tv box as it provides hours of back-to-back streaming shows... – jcalfee314 Aug 07 '12 at 13:41
  • You can argue semantics all you want, but the legalese is clear. YouTube: "By using or visiting the YouTube website...you signify your agreement to these terms and conditions..." http://www.youtube.com/t/terms And Hulu: "Use of the Hulu Services (including access to the Content) on the Properties is subject to compliance with these Terms of Use ("Terms of Use" or "Terms") and any end user license agreement that might accompany a Hulu application, feature or device." http://www.hulu.com/terms Both of which go on to say that bypassing the embedded player is a violation of those terms. – jimchristie Jan 31 '13 at 03:56
  • @jimirings By replying to my comment, it's clear... you're agreeing with me. It says so in the TOS that you've never bothered to read. – John O Jan 31 '13 at 05:02
  • No, I'm wholeheartedly disagreeing with you. The agreement that you make when using these sites is called a tacit agreement. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/tacit It's a form of legal agreement that would hold up in any court of law. It's the same reason you can't use a cell phone in a movie theater. Even though you never specifically said you won't, by simply being there you're tacitly agreeing to abide by their rules. They can throw you out if you don't. And Hulu or YouTube can ban you from their sites and/or possibly pursue legal action. – jimchristie Jan 31 '13 at 18:36
  • @jimirings, it's quite clear that by replying you have agreed to agree with me, per some unenforceable TOS you've never read which might have been on another page that you missed by clicking on a direct link. It's nice to know that you're pseudo-contractually obligated to acknowledge that I'm correct like this, and thanks for disproving your own point. – John O Jan 31 '13 at 19:06
  • This conversation would be more friendly and productive if you would make your points without sarcasm or doublespeak. Frankly, you're so vague and nonsensical in your replies that I'm not even sure what your point is. If you think I'm mistaken, tell me plainly why or how. The kind of flippant banter that you're currently employing helps no one. – jimchristie Jan 31 '13 at 19:22
  • @jimirings I'm not being sarcastic. I'm merely demonstrating. – John O Jan 31 '13 at 19:24
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Not sure about Hulu, because I don't have access to it and I know that it's DRM is typically quite stong, however I've been successfully playing standard youtube videos using the youtube-dl package and omxplayer. You can download the video completely or use the --get-url parameter to get the underlying URL. Then omxplayer should be able to play it as most videos use MP4 format with H264. Some YouTube videos use rtmp but they are reasonably rare, and rtmpdump should work, and omxplayer may even have it built in (don't remember).

Adam M-W
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