29
Fri, Nov
0 New Articles

The Real Browser War

Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

Remember the Internet browser war between Netscape and Microsoft? When the war began, the anti-Microsoft camp claimed that the future of the Internet was at stake. Doomsday pundits and Microsoft haters proclaimed that Microsoft was plotting to control access to the Internet and was somehow going to exact a toll from each of us using Microsoft’s free browser.

Once the Microsoft antitrust trial began, “toll booth” claims diminished, as there was no proof that any software company could control access to the Internet by merely giving away a free browser. The main reason the toll booth argument disappeared was that the Internet was built with HTML, an open standard content format that every other browser could read, display, and process. Microsoft couldn’t control the HTML standards, and Netscape and others were free to build products that displayed HTML content. The rhetoric after the antitrust trial proclaimed that Microsoft’s threat to the Internet was gone.

But while Janet Reno was mugging for the television cameras after the antitrust trial court victory, Microsoft continued to build the infrastructure for the real toll booths to the most important content on Internet: secured digital media and, eventually, secured digital books.

Building the Real Toll Booth

In the near future, the Internet will be the primary source of digital media-based entertainment, eventually displacing some radio, CD, and television use. If one company solely owned the tools and technology needed to create, distribute, protect, and view all popular digital entertainment content available on the Internet, it could become the toll booth everyone feared.

Microsoft is striving to become that singular provider now. In the past five years, Microsoft has become a dominant player in the streaming video, digital audio, and soon, the electronic books market. Microsoft has been busy making its digital media products the standard, proprietary content format for an increasing array of digital entertainment content. A growing number of content producers, Web site developers, and electronic book publishers have made Microsoft media technologies, including the newest product, Microsoft Reader for electronic books, their standard.

To establish dominance, Microsoft is promising content producers the ability to sell copyright-protected, encrypted digital content on the Internet to millions of consumers who already have free (but proprietary) content viewers installed on their Windows PCs and


Pocket PCs. Unlike other media content formats such as MP3, Microsoft’s formats include a digital rights management system (DRM), a sophisticated encryption and decryption system that prevents unauthorized copying and redistribution and also mandates the use of Microsoft viewing applications registered to users.

Content producers, reacting to the potential piracy losses that Napster/Gnutella technologies pose, believe that DRM-protected content is the answer to the copyright infringement problem and the key to secure, profitable content sales on the Internet. While DRM provides the typical protections against copying, sharing, and alteration, it also offers unparalleled opportunities to wring new revenue from digital content for both Microsoft and the content producer.

The Plan in Action

In addition to creating an e-book browser (Reader), Microsoft bought and developed content creation and encryption tools (ReaderWorks) that package the e-book content in encrypted form, only readable using Microsoft Reader. The full version of Reader only runs on Windows PCs and requires the user to keep a Microsoft Hotmail Passport Account as a security key. Secured Reader e-books cannot be shared, copied, or altered unless the publisher has granted the purchaser those rights at the time the user-specific e-book was created, irrespective of the notions of fair use embodied in copyright law.

While other e-book formats and DRM options exist (including secured PDF), Microsoft has been rushing to make Reader the de facto standard in the growing e-book world and has signed top authors to make their e-book content either available free (in Reader format exclusively) or available first in Reader format. Microsoft is also aggressively seeking partnerships with publishers, content producers, and resellers including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com to make Reader their preferred e-book content format. Book publishers, formerly reluctant to distribute on the Internet, are beginning to flock to Microsoft’s DRM-protected e-books for their electronic book pilot projects.

Welcome to the Turnpike of the Future

Entertainment content producers will be taking proactive steps to move their content into DRM-protected forms and to aggressively fight piracy. The recording industry and DVD producers have had a nearly perfect track record in shutting down large pirated-content sites in high profile court cases.

Consumers, now addicted to the instant gratification of digital content on the Internet, will begrudgingly accept DRM protection schemes. But neither consumers nor content producers will likely tolerate multiple content formats, especially if those formats each require proprietary browsers. Consumers will demand that entertainment content be published in a de facto standard format, and producers will be forced to share their revenues with a standard-bearer. Microsoft is positioned to be that standard-bearer. And in this browser war, there is no Netscape to complain or offer alternatives for the consumer. The Department of Justice may have won the first battle, but the war is far from over.


BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: