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Microsoft Changing Explorer, May Affect Large Numbers of Web Page
Microsoft Set To Change Its Internet Browser
Microsoft Corp., which this month was found to have infringed a patented method for viewing Internet pages, will make changes to its Web browser software, according to the World Wide Web Consortium trade group.
The consortium, which counts Microsoft as a member, said the company will make changes "very soon" to its Internet Explorer program that "may affect a large number of existing Web pages." The group made the claims in a statement on its Web site, citing conversations with unidentified Microsoft officials.
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the company "may take precautionary steps in response to the ruling." He declined to say what those steps are and confirmed Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft has talked to the consortium about the ruling.
Internet Explorer controls about 96 percent of the browser market. A federal jury in Chicago ordered Microsoft to pay $521 million to the University of California and Chicago-based Eolas Technologies Inc. for infringing a patented method of accessing interactive programs with a browser. Eolas' lawyer has said the company will seek hundreds of millions of dollars more in royalties.
The jury award was based on royalties for units sold between November 1998 and September 2001.
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