Sep 19, 2005
FEMA & Microsoft: True Love?
CNET reports the following:
"A government for the people by…Microsoft?
According to Slashdot, the U.S. Patent Office is considering making the online patent registration process available via Internet Explorer only. Well, FEMA's already gone that route. If you try using Mozilla Firefox on the FEMA application site, you get this message: "In order to use this site, you must have JavaScript Enabled and Internet Explorer version 6. Download it from Microsoft or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) to register." Good luck calling FEMA these days; I was able to get only a recorded message when I tried.
Many alternative browsers support ActiveX or make allowances for it, so I fail to see why the U.S. government would insist that Katrina victims use only one browser--a browser with a long history of security flaws, some of the more serious ones having to do with ActiveX Controls. It seems wrong to me that FEMA or any other government agency should restrict access to one browser. I hope this is a temporary oversight."
"A government for the people by…Microsoft?
According to Slashdot, the U.S. Patent Office is considering making the online patent registration process available via Internet Explorer only. Well, FEMA's already gone that route. If you try using Mozilla Firefox on the FEMA application site, you get this message: "In order to use this site, you must have JavaScript Enabled and Internet Explorer version 6. Download it from Microsoft or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) to register." Good luck calling FEMA these days; I was able to get only a recorded message when I tried.
Many alternative browsers support ActiveX or make allowances for it, so I fail to see why the U.S. government would insist that Katrina victims use only one browser--a browser with a long history of security flaws, some of the more serious ones having to do with ActiveX Controls. It seems wrong to me that FEMA or any other government agency should restrict access to one browser. I hope this is a temporary oversight."