IP: cookies and shockwave

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 05:26:23 -0800 (PST)
> From: Allan Hunt-Badiner <ahbadiner () igc apc org>
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> Subject: cookies and shockwave
>
> Don,
>
> i suspect many of your readers use the web with cookies disabled on
> their browsers... i do.
>
> until now, cookies have been optional (although that is not widely
> known) and the norm has been for sites that use them not to block
> access to users who don't.
>
> Macromedia has just made dowloading it's Shockwave plug-in a
> cookie-only function.  people concerned with their privacy will now be
> unable to enjoy shockwave content which is ubiquitous on the web.
>
> given the abuse of cookies by ad agencies, the trend toward
> personalization, and the invasion of privacy that this technology
> represents, it behooves people who care about these issues to speak up.
> the practical reality is that if Macromedia gets away with cookies-only
> access, then others will follow suit, and when the numbers of people who
> can't tolerate the "inconvenience" and "loss of service" grows to a
> critical point, the very ability to disable might not even be offered.
>
> i hope that enough people will contact <customerservice () macromedia com>
> so that they rethink their policy.
>
> thanks,
>
> --Allan