I really keep hoping that embedded fonts carry on. The many workarounds I've seen all have a lot of downsides. Embedding fonts could fix all that immediately.
And it's about time. I'm sick of seeing Georgia on every single web page I visit.
Unfortunately, its a copyright violation to embed fonts. I'm surprised Firefox decided to implement the ability to embed fonts, but I'll be far more surprised if Microsoft decides to. And, if they don't, embedding fonts will remain something you cannot rely on.
IE already supports font embedding and has for years. Their font embedding tech was developed with input from the font making industry and they plan to make the technology available for other browser vendors to freely use. Bill Hill, an MS researcher has been a strong advocate of improving typography on the web.
IE's current support is limited to the EOT format I believe (http://ajaxian.com/archives/the-fight-for-fantastic-fonts-or...), which is almost completely unused in the real world. There would need to be a lot more work done in this area to make it practical I think.
Oh? That's really odd. I understand it being illegal to create something with fonts you don't have, but making it illegal to read something in a certain font is ridiculous. That's like font makers charging magazine designers for every single time they create something using their font.
The difference is that by distributing the actual font file with your website, you're creating a copy of the font. The end user can install that file, and then use the font like any other on their system. In the magazine example, you're only distributing the end result of a font -- the user can't take the magazine and generate new documents using that font.
This is a good example of how copyright light hasn't translated well to the digital age. Almost everything you do on a computer involves creating a copy of intellectual property, and the law hasn't really caught up with that fact.
