Re: OT -- Microsoft's Smart Tags
Old news, it's been pulled. It almost got me to dust off the
html-of-ie-death, though... There in the mid 90s, there were sites that
could crash internet exploiter, and I doubt that the actual flaws got
fixed, just the particular iterations that were popularized...
On Wed, 15 Aug 2001, will trillich wrote:
>short version:
>
>webmasters, take note and add
> <meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="TRUE">
>to every page you own...
>
>lnog version:
>
>more darkness from redmond -- this, from an 'addme.com'
>newsletter i subscribe to (i'm not affiliated in any way; in
>fact i seldom find time to read them at all, but this one caught
>my eye). if nothing else, the author is blatantly "one of us" at
>least in spirit.
>
>irrelevant portions snipped--
>
>........................................................
>August 14th, 2001 *** ISSUE #216 ***
>........................................................
>
> Real Life Internet Evil:
> Microsoft's Smart Tags
> =========================
>
>By Richard Lowe, Jr.
>
>You've worked hard on your web pages. If you are anything like
>me, you've spent countless hours writing content, finding or
>creating graphics, cursing at tables, juggling lists and learning
>HTML and possibly even CSS, Java, DHTML and countless other
>things.
>
>My web site is uniquely mine. It is a product of my imagination,
>my sweat, my brain and my frustration. I have spent many
>sleepless nights and countless long days adding just the perfect
>content to communicate exactly what I wanted to say.
>
>Now Microsoft has come along with a "brilliant" idea. They want
>to piggyback their own selected content on top of that work. The
>idea is to have their products (such as Internet Explorer and the
>Office suite) scan web pages and documents for keywords and
>phrases known to the Microsoft. Any of these that are found would
>be underlined with a special purple "squiggle" to show that they
>are "smart tags".
>
>Anyone viewing the page could then click on the smart tag and be
>transported to a Microsoft web site for more information. For
>example, you could write a web page about the Grand Canyon, and
>the phrase "Grand Canyon" could be underlined, allowing your
>visitors to check out the Expedia.Com page about how to book
>travel to the area.
>
>Why does Microsoft want to do this? It's really very simple - to
>make an incredible amount of money. Look at it this way,
>Microsoft suddenly would have at their disposal every single
>document viewed with a new Microsoft product as a potential
>advertisement. Wow. That's power. No, this is an understatement
>of incredible magnitude. This is more than power - this is the
>harnessing of everyone's creative energy into a huge global
>advertising tool. It totally staggers the imagination.
>
>You could be looking at a newspaper site, reading an article
>about train travel, and click on numerous links to Microsoft
>sites (and presumably third party sites which paid Microsoft for
>the privilege) selling train related products and services. If
>you read a classified ad on that same newspaper site selling an
>automobile, the word "Cadillac" could be underlined with a smart
>tag linking to a Cadillac dealer.
>
>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.
>
>As an example, suppose you bought a book through a book club.
>Before it was shipped to you, someone opened the book and
>examined every single page, adding comments here and there about
>how you could purchase this or get more information about that.
>You would be very annoyed if you were the author, you'd probably
>be livid if you were the publisher of the book, and you'd almost
>certainly return it if you were the customer.
>
>Carefully crafted web pages whose look and feel has been lovingly
>built for countless hours by dedicated designers, authors,
>artists and webmasters would be randomly covered with trash by a
>company intent on siphoning away visitors to their own sites and
>pages.
>
>And what about the problem of inappropriate content? Suppose you
>had a site which was against animal cruelty, yet Smart Tags went
>ahead and added to your pages links to other sites which sold
>muzzles for horses? You wouldn't like that very much, would you?
>
>Another problem is that Smart Tags are "opt-out". This means the
>tags are inserted unless you (the webmaster or the user) indicate
>that you do not want them. Opt-Out is the preferred method of
>removal for many advertisers because they understand that most
>people will not bother to remove themselves from the list. Opt-in
>is the preferred method of most consumers because then they
>receive only what they have requested.
>
>Webmasters can keep smart tags from working on their site by
>including a special "opt-out" metatag in the header of each and
>every page. I highly recommend that all webmasters include this
>tag to prevent smart tags from operating.
>
> <meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="TRUE">
>
>As soon as Smart Tags appeared in a beta release of Windows XP,
>the furor began. It was awesome to see. Microsoft was hit from
>all sides by just about everyone, because their intentions were
>so transparent and so blatantly monopolistic that even the most
>conservative could see what they were up to. The dangers caused a
>flood of protests to be received by the giant company, so many
>that Microsoft was forced to remove the feature from their
>products.
>
>"As a result of smart tags in beta versions of Windows XP and IE,
>we received lots of feedback, and have realized that there is a
>need to better balance the user experience with the legitimate
>concerns of content providers and web sites," Microsoft said in a
>statement on June 28th, 2001.
>
>Keep an eye on Microsoft, however, because they also added,
>"Microsoft remains committed to this type of technology, and will
>work closely with content providers and partners in the industry
>in the coming months to further refine how it can be used."
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And
>Secrets at http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any
>time to read over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to
>improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
>------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To subscribe to this newsletter, please go to
>http://www.addme.com/nladd.htm
>
>----- End forwarded message -----
>
>i include the author's site info and the newsletter info in case
>anyone a) wants to check it out or b) complain at them for
>having someone such as me, for a subscriber. :)
>
>
--
There is no problem so great that it cannot be solved with suitable
application of High Explosives.
Who is John Galt? galt@inconnu.isu.edu, that's who!
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