I'm not sure what to think about Microsoft's losing their case re plug-ins (best summarized by Zeldman). But per Zeldman, there's some "coming for the gypsies" foreshadowing here which is very plausible given the whole Microsoft IE situation.

I liked David Berlind's suggestion on ZDNet:

Rather than allow the litigation and deliberations to drag out for years, dragging the Web and every user who's on it through the mud, this is a chance for Microsoft to do something that no one would expect.

Buy out Eolas and turn the ownership of the plug-in patent over to the W3C. Sure this would be an unusual move and it might set an ugly precedent (perhaps more alleged patent holders would come out of the woodwork). And there are no guarantees that Eolas would even listen to such an offer. But this sort of altruism is exactly the kind of step that Bill Gates should be undertaking in order to change the world's opinion of Microsoft for the better, and to prove that it's a world class corporate citizen.

Note to self: see what the folks on Slashdot have to say.

Update, Sep 24: W3C has more information on their HTML Patent Advisory Group page. Also see the FAQ.

12:09 PM | linkme | home