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  • From: Calvin Powers <calvin AT cspowers.com>
  • To: "InterNetWorkers" <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Smart Tags and Copyright and/or Intl issues
  • Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 20:45:03 -0400


I would view Smart Tags as Microsoft harassing me. Here I am browsing a web site, minding my own business, and Microsoft intercepts the pages and adds links that trick me into going to another web site.

It's like I'm walking down the street and Bill Gates keeps jumping in front of me every two or three steps trying to force me down another street.



At 10:53 AM 6/25/2001 -0700, you wrote:
Here are some:

[COPYRIGHT]
Microsoft "Smart Tags" Could Violate Law, Attorney Says
Technology embedded in the upcoming version of Microsoft's Internet
Explorer browser could run afoul of the law by placing unauthorized links
on privately owned Web sites, an intellectual property attorney said.
Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Robin Gross said that the
Microsoft "Smart Tag" technology could violate both copyright law and
federal rules prohibiting deceptive and unfair business practices.
Read the article: Newsbytes @
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166676.html


And of course Ken Starr must get involved:

"Ken Starr, whose firm presents ProComp, an anti Microsoft group, stated that "the government is going to stay the course" in the Microsoft case. He also criticized Microsoft's forthcoming XP technology. He stated that with XP Smart Tags "Microsoft can re-edit anyone's site." He also said that XP "should be examined through the lens of traditional antitrust law." The PFF did not include a Microsoft proponent on the panel."

[MICROSOFT]
Legal Experts Question Microsoft's New Software
Despite Microsoft's confidence that it will ultimately prevail in its
federal court battle, critics feel the company is playing with fire in its
recent maneuvers. With Microsoft's inclusion of so-called smart tags and
other technologies in the forthcoming Windows XP operating system, legal
experts say the company is practicing the same types of behavior that got
it in trouble in the first place.
Read the article: ZDNet News @
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2775911,00.html


MICROSOFT CANS FOREIGN SMART TAGS
Microsoft has decided not to install the controversial
browser smart tags in its new Windows XP operating systems

shipped outside of the US. Protests followed original
revelations that smart tags would initially be part of the
product, as some complained that words and phrases on Web
sites would be tagged without the permission of Web site
owners.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167127.html
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