[Bug 6606] generic 3rd-party <mark>, Smart Tags, and Activities prevention

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=6606





--- Comment #1 from Lachlan Hunt <lachlan.hunt@lachy.id.au>  2009-02-22 10:50:32 ---
(In reply to comment #0)
> Could you please add a brand-independent method for preventing anything
> resembling Microsoft's Smart Tags or Activities from taking effect as to a Web
> page?

Please, no.

> If the <mark> element is intended to be introduceable by servers other
> than the website owner's, then that should be preventable.

No, this is a misunderstanding of the mark element's purpose.  If a 3rd party
server can inject markup into another site's content, then that's a major
security problem, but it is independent from HTML itself.  It is also not how
the mark element is intended to be used.

> A technology that allows turning a website owner's content into a link should
> require the website owner's agreement.

That is not true.  Once the content is in the user's possession, then their
tools can do whatever they want to the content on their behalf.  See this
article I wrote about Google AutoLink that debunks all the arguments I saw that
were made against such features.

http://lachy.id.au/log/2005/03/google-autolink

However, this is entirely unrelated to the purpose of the <mark> element.

> Harm can arise when users are unaware that the link is not the site owner's.

This is true, but what a user agent does with the content on the user's behalf
is not in the site owner's control.  However, browser vendors do have a social
responsibility to ensure they don't deceive users, but that is outside the
scope of HTML.

> For Bugzilla, I selected all OSes;

Ignore the OS field for spec bugs.  Bugzilla has features designed for tracking
software bugs that aren't relevant for everything.

> I develop on Win95a and 98SE...

Are you serious?  Surely, running Linux with WINE is enough for running the
Windows apps you need, if you don't have access to more modern Windows
releases.


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Received on Sunday, 22 February 2009 10:50:41 UTC