Mozilla and OTOY, a cloud rendering company, are working on creating a codec that can play video and run apps without the need for a plug-in. Mozilla is aggressively trying to get rid of all plug-ins from their browser to improve security and performance.
The new codec, called ORBX.js, will be open-source and gives content creators the ability to watermark their video without implementing any DRM (digital rights management). ORBX.js is powered by JavaScript, if you couldn’t already tell by the name. The plug-in is supposedly powerful enough for 3D-rendering software like Autodesk to run inside a browser.
While H.264 is currently the most popular video codec on the web, it isn’t open source, requiring companies who make browsers to license its use. This is fundamentally against Mozilla’s ideology of a free and open web. Mozilla even went as far as blocking all third party cookies by default (update: only in the Aurora testing build), to the consternation of advertisers.
It’s nice that Mozilla is trying to negate the need for installing plug-ins but ORBX.js will still require the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to be installed on a user’s computer. Java is notoriously insecure, with new exploits popping up frequently. For most users, Java isn’t a necessity for browsing most websites.
UPDATE: A Mozilla spokesperson reached out to clarify that ORBX.js will not, in fact, require JRE to be installed. The spokesperson also clarified about blocking 3rd party cookies:
“The third-party cookie patch is currently in our Aurora testing build, not in the General release of the Firefox browser. As with all new Firefox features, there will be months of evaluating technical input from our users and the community before the patch enters our General release. This will stay in our testing builds until we are satisfied with the user experience.”
Source: CNET
