ActiveX control Legal issue
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Over the next several months, virtually all webpages that use any form of ActiveX or plugins must be redone to satisfy the rulings that have come out of the Eolas lawsuit. How browsers interact and display active content and how webpages are coded will both be affected. Some pages, even entire sites will stop functioning correctly. Some browsers will be withdrawn or rewritten.
At the heart of the Eolas lawsuit and rulings is the basic patent (US Patent #5,838,906) which suggest a simple method of embedding software directly in HTML code so that interactive elements would be part of a page, as a picture is part of a page. Webdevelopers do this via ActiveX and plugins. In the August 2003 ruling, the jury found that most browsers (Internet Explorer specifically) and the EMBED, OBJECT and APPLET tags infringed on Eolas' patent and used its core idea. Microsoft was ordered to pay $521 Million to Eolas. Eolas is also seeking an extra $110 Million in interest charges. Other browsers and webdevelopers have not been enjoined, but with Internet Explorer's 96% market share, Microsoft represents virtually all the infringers.
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http://www.ktb.net/~pacranch/activex_popup.htm