Guest LilBambi Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 Message to BugTraq: RIP: ActiveX controls in Internet Explorer?As everyone knows, ActiveX controls and the tag has been a bigsource of security holes in Internet Explorer. However, it looks likesupport for ActiveX controls is going to be removed from InternetExplorer. A small company called Eolas recently won a $521 millionjudgment against Microsoft for patent infringement. The Eolas patentcovers plugins in Web pages to show multimedia content. The $521 million payment covers past infringement. Because Bill Gatesloathes to pay per-copy royalties, it looks like Microsoft is going toeither partially or completely remove support for ActiveX controls inInternet Explorer rather than pay Eolas any more money. This Internetnews.com article talks about the fallout from the Eolasvictory: http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/artic...cle.php/3070591 Reply about RIP: ActiveX controls in Internet Explorer?Okay, it's time for the "elephant in the living room":The descriptions I've heard of this suggest that this patent could beapplied equally to prevent (or grab payment from implementors of)Javascript, Java, Flash, etc.I'm with you on the security issues with ActiveX (and Javascript) - Idisable ActiveX on the principle that it has no security consideration, andJavascript on the basis that it's been frequently implemented in avulnerable manner. But this is a considerably further-reaching patent thanmerely killing off ActiveX. Before we sing "ding dong the witch is dead",let's have some concern for the peaceful Wiccans that might be next on the chopping block.The Internet News article in the first quote has much more information about the patent infringement side of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zox Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 Thank god.I think 90% of icompatibility problems on web sites is due to use of ActiveX which is available in IE only and tied to Windows only.Hopefuly many web designers will get rid of it and start coding standard compliant web pages.Thanks for article Fran. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 zox,Boy, do I hear ya! But then I pity all those webdesigners that put in activeX elements because they were trying to code with elements that were targeted to the 94%* of all browser users that use IE**.* at last survey I saw here: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp** NOTE: be aware that many stats may have an incomplete or faulty browser detection. It is quite common by many web stats report programs, not to detect new browsers like Opera and Netscape 6 or 7 from the web log. (as reported on the w3schools page) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 I 3rd that Zox - dump it and let it be gone and for those that were not considerate to build web pages on a universal foundation, that is unprofessional and they get what they deserve for putting their faith into MS and not thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zox Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Isn't "Windows Update" based on ActiveX?They'll have to invent new technology if that is the case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Also that wonderful site http://www.buymusic.com uses ActiveX to do their music downloads... They're going to be SOL now too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Yep and Yep!As well as a whole slew of others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 This is not the death of ActiveX. It is a typical M$ tactic. Microsoft is trying to starve the guy out. By removing ActiveX and not paying the company any royalties they continue to cut off the company’s revenue stream. Eventually they will be desperate for cash and then Microsoft will buy them out at 10 cents on the dollar. This isn't a setback for Microsoft it’s just the second round of the siege. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prelude76 Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 starve them out? they already are getting $521 million, which is for BACK PAY, so if MS stops paying royalties from now on, i bet $521 million can keep their bellys full for a few decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 They're going to be SOL now too! that will learn em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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