1999-08-01 07:00:00+00 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
I meant "SGML" rather than "HTML" in those comments about patents below, but really even in the HTML 1.0 spec it said that HTML was a markup language, not a display language. Despite my support of intellectual property in general, I've long been a critic of patents, specifically how patents are implemented under U.S. law. In anothing shining example of the failure of the patent system, Microsoft has patented style sheets, something I thought were inherent in the concept of HTML. Specifically:
"Unlike previous systems, the display regions in this system do not contain any text at the time the style sheet is applied. Rather, the text, or other media such as graphics, is poured into the display region when the title is rendered on the customer's computer."
Ummm... Framemaker's been around for how long? Yeesh. And now it becomes "who has deeper pockets for the lawyers".