RE: OT -- Microsoft's Smart Tags
Well written, Will!
On 15-Aug-01 will trillich wrote:
> Real Life Internet Evil:
> Microsoft's Smart Tags
>
> Content (the tags) are added dynamically to web pages by the
> browser without the permission of the person who created the
> pages (the webmaster or author). While strictly speaking this
> might not violate copyright laws (but it might be considered
> vandalism), it sure is rude. In fact, most people would consider
> it highly unethical.
One question which occurred to me when "Smart Tags" first hit the
news (though, as people are pointing out, it seems to be on hold
for the time being):
Suppose you create a web page, and you make a word or phrase
highlighted because it's a tag for one of your own URLs (i.e.
_you_ want the reader to be able to follow a link at that point).
And suppose the word or phrase is one of the things that MS Smart
Tags wants to hijack.
The question is: Who trumps whom?
If MS Smart Tags overrides your own intentions, then I would
think that you might have a case in law -- at least if you
could prove financial damage as a result (as many commerical
sites certainly could if that happened to their own advertising
content).
Hmmm.
Ted.
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E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk>
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Date: 15-Aug-01 Time: 10:07:59
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