SCN: They're at it again...

Sat Jun 9 17:31:57 PDT 2001

x-no-archive: yes

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Windows XP Feature Can Re-Edit Others' Sites  

(Walter S. Mossberg, Wall Street Journal)---Microsoft's Windows XP 
operating system, due to be released Oct. 25, is designed to be easier and 
more reliable than previous home versions of Windows. But Microsoft has 
another agenda for Windows XP: The program is also designed to be a 
platform from which the company can seamlessly offer users an array of 
new subscription services via the Internet.  

One key test of Windows XP will be whether its features do more to benefit 
consumers or Microsoft's business plan. Another will be whether the 
operating system favors Microsoft services over those of other companies. 
The company has said its software won't discriminate against others 
selling Web-based services.  

But even though Windows XP is still in development, I've already 
encountered one proposed feature, in a "beta," or test, version, that shows 
Microsoft may well flunk both these tests. The feature, which hasn't yet 
been made public, allows Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser -- 
included in Windows XP -- to turn any word on any Web site into a link to 
Microsoft's own Web sites and services, or to any other sites Microsoft 
favors.  

In effect, Microsoft will be able, through the browser, to re-edit anybody's 
site, without the owner's knowledge or permission, in a way that tempts 
users to leave and go to a Microsoft-chosen site -- whether or not that site 
offers better information.  

The feature, called Internet Explorer Smart Tags, wasn't in the widely 
distributed second public beta of Windows XP issued in March. And it isn't 
easy to find, even in later "builds" that have had much more limited 
distribution.  

In response to my questions, Microsoft officials stressed that the feature 
may still undergo modifications to make it more palatable. But they 
defended it as a useful tool.  

"Smart Tags represent another step in personalizing the Web and helping 
bring it to life for individuals by allowing them to get the information they 
want in the way they want it," says Chris Jones, vice president for Windows 
XP development.  

Here's how the Internet Explorer Smart Tags work: On a PC with Windows 
XP, when you open any Web page, squiggly purple lines instantly appear 
under certain types of words. In the version I tested, these browser-
generated underlines appear beneath the names of companies, sports 
teams and colleges. But other types of terms could be highlighted in future 
versions.  

If you place your cursor on the underlined word, an icon appears, and if you 
click on the icon, a small window opens to display links to sites offering 
more information. For instance, in the new browser, a Washington Post 
Web article on Japanese baseball players was littered with eight Microsoft-
generated links that the Post editors never placed on their site.  

In the beta version I tested, most of these links weren't functional yet, but 
Microsoft officials confirm that they will send users to Microsoft Web 
properties or to other properties blessed by Microsoft. One of the links did 
work: It launched Microsoft's mediocre search engine, which is packed with 
plugs for other Microsoft services.  

One Microsoft official says the feature will spare users from "under-linked" 
sites. But who decides if a site is "under-linked?" It's up to a site's creators 
to decide how many, and which, terms to turn into links, where those links 
appear, and where they send users. It's part of the editorial process. In the 
case of the Washington Post article, the editors included plenty of links but 
chose to list them at the bottom of the article and in a box to the side of the 
text. Microsoft decided otherwise.  

Microsoft says the Internet Explorer Smart Tags feature, which is similar to 
a Smart Tag feature in the new Office XP, will be turned off by default in the 
final release, and that users will have to consciously choose to enable it by 
activating a setting buried in the browser's menus. In addition, Microsoft 
says, it will provide a free bit of programming code, called a "meta tag," that 
site owners could use to bar any Smart Tags from appearing on their sites.  

But if the feature is so benign, why is Microsoft hiding it and offering sites a 
way to block it?  

Microsoft also says that other companies, besides itself, will be able to 
create and distribute add-ons for the browser that will launch their own 
Smart Tags all over the Web, directing users to their sites. But these tags 
will be far harder to obtain than Microsoft's. And they will merely allow more 
companies to invasively re-edit others' sites. 
Ford would be able to impose its own links on Chevrolet's site, and 
Republicans could insert links on Democrats' sites. Once the hate 
groups, the spammers and the junk marketers on the Web get their 
hands on these Smart Tags, they'll be plastering their links on 
everything.  

There have been some excellent third-party programs, like GuruNet 
(now Atomica), that let users click on words within Web pages to get 
more information. But these don't place new links on pages, and 
they aren't built into the browser that more than 80% of Web visitors 
use.  

Microsoft's Internet Explorer Smart Tags are something new and 
dangerous. They mean that the company that controls the Web 
browser is using that power to actually alter others' Web sites to its 
own advantage. Microsoft has a perfect right to sell services. But by 
using its dominant software to do so, it will be tilting the playing field and 
threatening editorial integrity.  

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