Fwd: spawning windows not just an access problem

GL - Relevant since we suggest not spawning new windows.

ER - Check out the tool they suggest at the end.

--wendy


>Subject: spawning windows not just an access problem
>
>Today's New York Times has an article discussing some of the issues that have
>come up in the User agent working group. Here are a few clips from the
>article,
>the URL for the article appears below.
>
>Kitch
>
>
>On the Web, dirty tricks are everywhere. Last month, would-be visitors to 25
>million popular Web pages were intentionally rerouted to and then stuck at
>pornography sites. The incident brought to light one of the annoying
>aspects of
>Web surfing: You cannot always go where you want and, if you are in a place
>you
>don't want to be, you cannot always get out easily.
>
>All of these tricks are irritating. Some are downright deceptive. The Federal
>Trade Commission filed an injunction against the parties responsible for last
>month's page-jacking case. One reason the agency took such aggressive action
>was that "there isn't a whole lot the consumer can do," said Paul H. Luehr,
>assistant director of marketing practices at the Federal Trade Commission.
>"They were deceptively driven to these sites and then held there against their
>will." The F.T.C. has a form on its Web site
>(<http://www.ftc.gov/>www.ftc.gov)
>and a toll-free number (1-877-FTC-HELP) for consumers to file complaints about
>misleading sites.
>
>
>You're clicking your way around the Web, exploring pages and following links.
>On one site, you click on the Back button at the top of the browser. Nothing
>happens. You click again and repeat until bedtime.
>
>The dastardly deed is commonly performed with Javascript, a powerful
>programming tool used with HTML, a common programming language used for making
>Web pages. Programmers can use Javascript to create a loop: Each time a window
>closes, a new one opens. Because the window is "new," there is no Back button
>because the browser thinks there is no place to go back to.
>
>Have you ever called it quits after hours of surfing, closed your browser
>window and discovered several other open browser windows still on your screen,
>all neatly piled one on top of another?
>
>That trick is also used to keep users connected to one site, even if they are
>looking at another. The HTML code writer can tell the browser to treat the
>desired link as a new window, which opens on top of the first one.
>
>One way to put a stop to this sort of thing is to visit your favorite
>shareware
>archive for inexpensive little programs that keep browser windows from
>breeding
>like bunnies. Intermute (www.intermute.com) sells such a program for $20.
>
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/10/circuits/articles/07tric.html

--
wendy a chisholm
world wide web consortium
web accessibility initiative
madison, wi usa
tel: +1 608 663 6346
/--

Received on Tuesday, 14 December 1999 17:03:17 UTC