"Microsoft has again been told to cripple its market-leading browser in compliance with the Eolas patent lawsuit. IE/Windows will no longer be able to seamlessly play Flash, Quicktime, PDF, and other rich media formats. Other browser makers like Netscape and Opera may also be forced to cripple their browsers, making the web look like 1993 all over again. Clumsy, disruptive workarounds that diminish user experience might allow browsers to present rich media files, but site owners would have to pay for development -- and Eolas might sue anyway. The patent ruling will hurt everyone. Patents on the web are always bad, but this one stinks to Heaven. We find ourselves rooting for Microsoft." [Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report]
There will be a round or two of appeals, and it also looks like Microsoft is working on ways to get around the crippling mandated by this ruling, but ... it would be a good thing to start thinking about how we are going to deliver rich media over the Web if this works out the wrong way. Watch for response also from Macromedia, Adobe, and other vendors whose product success depends on plug-ins working in Internet Explorer.
10:29:32 AM 
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