Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Paula Paul" <Paula AT PaulSoftware.com>]

> 
> In my opinion smart tags are a copyright issue, not a user issue.
While
> user's have control over some basic layout parameters such as font
size,
> the
> copyright owner of a page has control over the actual text, and what
that
> text links to. By modifying the content of an original work, Smart
Tags
> violates the copyright of documents, and I fully expect MS to be sued
over
> them, and rightfully so.

Well, of course, it's not a black and white issue.  I could argue that
once I've downloaded an HTML page into my browser, on my desktop, I can
do whatever I want to with it, because it's on my desktop.  Why do I
have to be limited to font size and color?  How did you decide to draw
that line?

Just like I can take my copy of the Wall Street Journal from my driveway
in the morning and use a highlight marker to circle interesting ads.  I
can write a smart tag for my own desktop that does the same thing to my
electronic view of the WSJ that I pay for.

I don't see anything wrong with writing my own smart tags to recognize
terms that I'm interested in and highlight them in my browser if I want
to do so.

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