Fellow web developers

[dbdg]

What do you think about this?

[spadnos]

I look to <A href="http://www.ozzie.net/blog/stories/2003/09/12/savingTheBrowser.html">this</A>.

Hopefully, this will help weaken software patents in general because it's so stupid, but I'm not holding my breath.

The difficulty here is that the patent has a few key specifics:
1) It has to be client/server (networked, with a computer meant to serve documents to client(s)).
2) There has to be a "HyperMedia" document, which contains "embed" tags (doesn't have to be that word) in the source media type, describing another media type to place into the document.
3) The "browser" application must run an external application automatically when the alternate media object is loaded.
4) Optionally, there can be interprocess communications at external program launch and/or during viewing (mouse motion/clicks, etc.)

It seems like a specific application of DLL's or dynamic linking in general, but happens to fit the web browser perfectly.

Throw it away - that's my vote (even though it helps MS )

I Am Not A Lawyer (nor do I play one on TV).

- Steve

[az]

Software patents - the biggest coup of MS etc., bound to secure the stronghold of the few big software companies through making it impossible for smaller firms to develop stuff without risk and fear of being sued, and open source developers facing the same.

Software patents will do nothing but make the few very rich even richer, kill off smaller software firms and open source, and slow down innovation.

AZ

[TnT]

It's only worsened with the patent offices being so unfamiliar with technology that they grant patents for very broad ideas.

Oh, and I have to say the same of patenting business practices.

[az]

Yes, exactly. SUN has a patent for "shopping carts" on online shops, Amazon for 1-click-shopping (ie. using a cookie) and sending a gift via an online shop, etc.

Of course, those might not hold if challenged, but the court would probably take years to settle it (through the clever use of stalling tactics), and which small company has enough money to pay lawyers for that amount of time AND survive long enough without being able to sell its product?

AZ