IP: RE: New Windows XP Feature Can Re-Edit Others' Sites (WSJ Story)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Dave Winer" <dave () userland com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>, <ip-sub-1 () majordomo pobox com>
> Subject: Re: RE: New Windows XP Feature Can Re-Edit Others' Sites (WSJ  Story)
> Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 10:34:03 -0700
>
>
> Dave, we're covering this extensively on Scripting News.
>
> A lot of people are missing an important point. Microsoft is now not only a
> monopoly in operating systems, they are also a monopoly in Web browsers.
> Will we allow Microsoft to use that power to edit our content? Is a monopoly
> required to play by different rules than a company with competitors? We
> don't have any real choice, the vast majority of people who read our content
> read it through Microsoft's browser. As a result we have had to deal with
> their neglect of the browser. Now it gets worse. Where is the line?
>
> I won't write for a Web where Microsoft inserts links into my writing. It
> would have no integrity. Mohsen works at Microsoft and is one of the few
> people who remain there that I trust. He supports Smart Tags, but I don't
> get it. To me it's way over the line. I told a WSJ reporter yesterday that
> Smart Tags are fine in Office, where the user is editing his or her own
> document. But what you're reading right now is *my* document. I did not and
> will not give Microsoft the right to modify it.
>
> More ideas and links..
>
> http://scriptingnews.userland.com/backissues/2001/06/08#moreSmartTags
>
> Dave Winer



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