Eolas and web developers

9th Oct 2003

The Eolas patent infringement victory has rattled the Web since it was handed down in August. In its verdict, a jury found that Microsoft's IE browser infringed on an Eolas patent that describes how a browser opens external applications of the type Macromedia, Adobe Systems, RealNetworks, Apple Computer, Sun Microsystems and many other software providers produce.Microsoft and the plug-in vendors aren't the only ones who are losing sleep over Eolas.Web developers face the possibility of having to significantly rewrite their pages or strip them of commonly used technologies like Macromedia's Flash. And other browser makers, including Opera Software and two open-source development projects relied upon by companies like Hewlett-Packard and Apple, also face an uncertain future in terms of their plug-in technologies ... further readingAbove excerpt taken from news.com IT news