Re: Do they realize what they just said?
There is no possible way to implement DRM in open source software.
This is a common fallacy. DRM can be implemented in open source software. However, the nature of open source means that any such DRM system can be cracked much more easily than a similarly strong proprietary DRM system. That doesn't prevent said implementation, however; it only deters it.
Hence, EME will either prevent OSS browsers from competing on the Web...
Really? Because DRM already exists in such sites as Amazon, NetFlix, LoveFilm, the BBC, Hulu, Vudu, et al. And yet the most popular browsers are primarily open-source.
Nothing in the EME spec prevents open source implementations of EME. The only potentially proprietary part of the spec is the Content Decryption Modules. Those can be either open- or closed- source.
..or will force them using a non-free plugin for EME content.
Which they already must do (and do do) for any DRM content.
EME is not going to change the code of the web overnight, or even over decades. Even the specification itself notes how complicated setting up proprietary DRM is.
What EME does do is allow a basic encryption management system to be implemented in a standard way, and which can be implemented in open source. This allows content producers to better protect their content without resorting to proprietary components, and reduces the footprint of the proprietary component used by those who wish stronger protection.
Those who want super-strong DRM will never use open source for their content delivery for the very reason you state. So closing off proprietary components completely is no more an option than eliminating free components.
EME represents a practical compromise between two childish fundamentalist dogmas. That's why y'all are bitching about it so much.