IE Changes To Avoid Eolas IP

Microsoft changed the way its browser handles ActiveX controls in response to the ongoing Eolas patent infringement suit.

The company gathered about 20 large Web publishers and interactive advertising agencies at its Silicon Valley campus on Friday to brief them about the change — and how they could minimize its effects.

“Now, when an end user goes to a Web site with ActiveX control, before actually interacting with the control, they must first click once to activate it,” said Michael Wallent, general manager of the Windows Client platform. “We believe, for the vast majority of users, this will be an almost invisible change.”

At the meeting, executives explained the change and also showed how publishers could author pages so that additional clicks wouldn’t be required.

Microsoft suggested what it said was a simple workaround for Web developers: Instead of putting the “applet object” tag in the page, load it via an external script.

According to Microsoft, because the Eolas patent covers the automatic launching of applets, this method doesn’t infringe.

Eolas sued Microsoft in February 1999.

Full article: internetnews.com