--- In decentralization@y..., "Erik Moore" <esmoore@t...> wrote:
> The distinction between "altering what we say" and
> annotating is the ease of recognition of the source
> of any piece of information in the document. Since
> SmartTags are _easily_ discernable from original
> content, I think they safely fit under the annotation
> category.
>
> It really bothers me to see people imply that SmartTags
> somehow give the SmartTag author the power to
> _change_ content- that's simply not the case.

Eric,

You're wrong in your assertions that Smart Tags are annotations. If
they were, there would also show who wrote them. Without this
attribution they are modification. I've been watching this discussion
since Dave first brought it to my attention on scripting.com, and to
tell you the truth, this thing scares the holy bajeebers out of me on
two levels.

One, the complete wrongness of this incredibly invasive feature. And
two, that some people have their eyes so screwed shut that they can't
see just how wrong it is.

If my (or Dave's, or Roberts) arguments can't sway you, perhaps this
nugget will show you just how serious this issue is. I work for a
(unnamed) gigantic multi-national company on the scale of www.aol-
time-warner.com or www.bertlesmann.com. Yesterday I participated in a
world-wide meeting about Smart Tags at my company. I was there as in
the role of small-fry with info. When I had finished my explanation
of Smart Tags, they were horrified. Today I learned that they are
already working on potential copyright infringement suits. The
possibility that Microsoft could modify our web content is viewed as
a serious threat to our business presence on the web.

This issue is huge. I cannot possibly convey the importance of this.
It attacks the very fiber of freedom. If you steal the integrity of
Dave's web presence, you also rob him of some of his freedom. On the
most basic level, that is wrong.

Microsoft must either allow web sites to opt-in to this feature, or
not release it. those are the only two "right" options.

Chris Mahnken
chris@...