httpwebwitch - 1:04 pm on Aug 12, 2005 (gmt 0)

Some of us remember the concern over the use of GIF compression in 1994, when there was a concern by many that Compuserve was going to demand a usage fee for their graphics format. Now LZW compression is licenced to software manufacturers and the fee is hidden in the price of graphics software packages like JASC Paint Shop and Photoshop.

If session tracking becomes a problem, we might see the same thing happening in the price of server platforms like IIS and Apache, or in the engines that employ the technique, like Zend PHP or ASP.NET

The end user still pays the bill

If all the commonsense patent holders get lidigious, I'd rather see increased prices in server-side tools than risk the threat of an individual lawsuit for using a technology like SSI or Cookies.