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Will W3C Accept DRM For Webfonts?

Posted by timothy on from the magic-8-ball-time dept.

dotne writes "Microsoft has submitted Embedded OpenType (EOT) to W3C and a slimy campaign for EOT has been launched. EOT is a DRM layer on top of normal TrueType/Opentype files; EOT ties a font file to a certain web page or site and prevents reuse by other pages/sites. Microsoft's IE has supported EOT for years, but it has largely been ignored due to the clumsiness of having to regenerate font files when a page changes. Now that other browsers are moving to support normal TrueType and OpenType on the web (Safari, Opera, Mozilla, Prince), W3C is faced with a question: should they bless Microsoft's EOT for use on the web? Or, should they encourage normal font files on the web and help break Microsoft's forgotten monopoly?"

7 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. Loaded question by celardore · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Or, should they encourage normal font files on the web and help break Microsoft's forgotten monopoly?"

    Gee, I wonder what /. will think...

    1. Re:Loaded question by AltGrendel · · Score: 5, Funny
      60% will think "That depends on how much money Microsoft throws at the W3C.
      35% will think "So what, I won't use it anyway."
      4% will think "Microsoft should do whatever it pleases, nothing has stopped it from doing that anyway."

      The remaining 1% will be various trolls and flamebait.

      --
      The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

      - Douglas Adams

    2. Re:Loaded question by argent · · Score: 4, Funny

      5% will think "That depends on how much money Microsoft spends to pack voting bodies with sock puppets."
      10% will think "So what, I won't use it anyway."
      50% will think "Microsoft will do whatever it wants anyway."
      90% will be various trolls and flamebait.

      Disclaimer: totals do not add to 100% because some contestants qualify for more than one category. Contents may have settled in shipping. 186,000 miles a second.... it's not just a good idea, it's the law. No animals were harmed in testing this product. Fnord.

  2. Yay! by omeomi · · Score: 4, Funny

    If there's one thing that I wake up every morning with a deep desire to have, it's more random, cutesy, difficult to read fonts on websites.

    --
    ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
    1. Re:Yay! by argent · · Score: 4, Funny

      I haven't been so excited since JWZ came up with BLINK.

  3. Re:DRM on FONTS?! by argent · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pantone would love that!

  4. Your browser doesn't support ANSI X3.64! by argent · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just because a standard exists ^[1mdoesn't^[0m mean it has to be supported.