> the companies that own the content would never be willing to relicense them for DRM-free streaming.

Don't be so sure. People were saying exactly this several years ago about music. We owe it to Jobs that he realized it's stupid idea, and put an end to it.

> they'd develop their own proprietary application for it instead of providing DRM-free streaming (think of how Netflix has applications for mobile OS's and even consoles, both living room consoles and handheld consoles).

That seems better to me, than poisoning a whole standard just to get their way, or the highway.