A while back someone posted an article related to this. It looks like whether or not MS wins the appeal, they are going to make changes to IE and how it handles plugins. I wonder how many sites it'll affect. http://www.wininformant.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=40468 ============================================== October 6, 2003 | Paul Thurrott Microsoft Confirms Changes to Windows, IE in Wake of Lawsuit On Monday, Microsoft verified that it will be making what it calls "modest" changes to Windows and Internet Explorer (IE) to meet the requirements of a jury verdict against it in the Eolas patent infringement case. Eolas sued Microsoft in 1999, charging that the software giant violated its broad patents for "embedded program objects" when it added ActiveX controls, Java, and other browser plug-ins to IE and Windows. The lawsuit could have huge repercussions for other browser makers if Microsoft's expected appeal falls flat: Browsers such as Mozilla, Netscape, Opera, and Safari all use similar means to add plug-in capabilities. Microsoft says it will finish making the changes to IE and Windows by early next year. The company will provide developers that use IE technology with documentation to help them modify their applications, Web pages, and browser plug-ins to work with the new plug-in scheme, which affects all Web pages that use plug-in technologies such as Adobe (formerly Acrobat) Reader, Apple QuickTime, Macromedia Flash, RealNetworks RealOne, all versions of Java, and Windows Media Player. The Eolas case started off quietly enough, with few media outlets even covering the case. But this summer, after failing to have the case thrown out, Microsoft found itself on the receiving end of a jury verdict which will pay Eolas over $520 million. Microsoft has pledged to appeal the verdict, but is proactively making the changes to IE and Windows to get developers working with the new scheme just in case. "We believe the evidence will ultimately show that there was no infringement of any kind, and that the accused feature in our browser technology was developed by our own engineers based on pre-existing Microsoft technology," a Microsoft spokesperson said in early August when a federal court jury delivered its verdict.
