I think the trick is to start viewing the problem through the lens of anti-trust/pro-competition law. Something like mandating compulsory licensing of DRM technologies so that the DRM manufacturer and Hollywood studios don't get to be kingmakers in the browser or operating systems markets.

IANAL but seems to me like laws along the lines of "you can reverse engineer DRM without being arrested" and "the patent holder/whatever of the DRM cannot deny you a license to use this without a good reason" seem like the right direction to me. Then the linux distros or anyone else can go off and build/integrate the DRM to the extent that they wish.