- From: Bill McCoy <mccoy@mv.us.adobe.com>
- Date: Sun, 11 Aug 1996 20:00:54 -0700
- To: www-font@w3.org
John Hudson wrote: >the font _is_ installed in the user's system, that's how they are able to print >a PDF file. Yes, on certain platforms (i.e., Macintosh) an extracted font may be transiently made available to the system. But, embedded fonts are never permanently installed into the system by Acrobat... thus I stand by my original statement. >We can strip a fully functional font from a PDF file in a matter >of seconds So what? Any ten year old can copy any standard U.S. commercial software install disk in a manner of seconds. Most likely they can copy your font disks as well. A decade ago, commercial shrink-wrapped software was universally copy protected in the U.S. - but it didn't stop hackers and it did piss off legitimate customers. You have the right to license your type any way you want, and Acrobat today makes it clear that font embedding should be enabled only if your fonts are licensed appropriately. Our authoring software respects the TrueType embedding bits, which will be enhanced and extended in OpenType for both TrueType and Type 1 technologies. And, different markets may require different behavior (i.e., copy protection is still common in Japan, and so we also support font outline encryption for Japanese fonts, which we hope to strengthen in OpenType). So yes of course you should be able to "opt out" of the system - legally and/or technically. I only argue that your moral high ground is not sufficient justification for placing requirements on a standards-based Web font solution that would either impair the solution or delay its implementation. A couple of other minor points from your messages: - font programs *can* be copyrighted in the U.S., something that Adobe and Bitstream helped fight for. - there is plenty of high-quality raster-based art on the Web. And, plenty of vector graphics as well. In PDF files (though I guess you'll happily pick on Acrobat for this also), VRML files, CAD files, etc. We need technical protection for *all* intellectual property on the Web - it's just not going to happen overnight. --Bill
Received on Sunday, 11 August 1996 23:05:17 UTC