Another thought on this... Acrobat, for example, does not (I believe) use ActiveX as Flash and many others do: Acrobat uses OLE (the Acrobat reader opens within IE, adding custom toolbars and such just an Office app would, but can also open as a stand-alone application).
But Acrobat is specifically mentioned as being affected in all stories I've read. If Acrobat (and presumably other applications like it) ARE affected by the patent then it seems like much more than plug-ins are. If it's NOT affected by the patent it would seem potentially to provide a workaround for developers. Jim Davis > -----Original Message----- > From: Matt Liotta [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2003 4:02 PM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: Re: No so good news > > > Again - if it were also a stand alone application (as it probably needs > > to be) then the situation is murkier - how is it "integrated". A DLL > > on > > the machine (as long as it launched by a hyper text command and > > controlled by the hyper-text browser) IS a "plug-in" - despite the fact > > that there is no "generic" plug-in architecture in place. > > > Integrating a DLL into an application means that it is part of the same > memory space and thus does not use IPC to communicate. > > > IE opening Word (for example) via OLE mode is also (seemingly) covered > > as is Encarta (which launches media and other applications via it's > > hyper text interface). > > > In the case of OLE, there is IPC going on between two distinct > applications with one being clearly controlled by another. > > > Of course this IS legalese and thus completely obtuse - but I still the > > patent paints with a much larger stroke than many people think. > > > No doubt about that, but the fact that IPC is specifically mentioned > means that any integration that doesn't use IPC is not covered. > > Matt Liotta > President & CEO > Montara Software, Inc. > http://www.MontaraSoftware.com > (888) 408-0900 x901 > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=t:4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Your ad could be here. Monies from ads go to support these lists and provide more resources for the community. http://www.fusionauthority.com/ads.cfm
