From: "Peter D. Junger" <junger@pdj2-ra.F-REMOTE.CWRU.Edu>
Date: Sat, 20 Jul 1996 00:31:07 +0800
To: Joel McNamara <joelm@eskimo.com>
Subject: Re: MSNBC and cookies
In-Reply-To: <199607190426.VAA10722@mail.eskimo.com>
Message-ID: <199607191300.JAA00488@pdj2-ra.F-REMOTE.CWRU.Edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Joel McNamara writes:

: In attempting to check out different Net media coverage of TWA 800, it
: appears the msnbc.com site won't let you in without a cookie.  Repeated
: cookie cancels with Navigator 3.0 drop you into an indigestive loop of the
: server continuing to try to force feed you cookies.  When you finally click
: OK, you get in.
: 
: Am I spacing, or is this the first site anyone's stumbled on that requires a
: cookie for access?  I've never been shut out of a site for canceling a
: cookie.  The first cookie request does have a user ID field.  If the server
: (or client) isn't misbehaving, this seems like a wee bit of a privacy issue.
: 
: I tried accessing the page (http://www.msnbc.com) on 7/18/96 around 9:15 PM
: PDT.  Anyone care to confirm this.

I can confirm it.  I never gave them the cookie.  Had one hell of a
job backing out.  I don't know what would have happened if I had set
my cookies file to be read only.

It's a nuisance, but I suppose there is no reason that a commercial
service can't do such a thing.  But what happens when one tries to
access it with Lynx?

I too am using Navigator 3.0 (the new beta with strong crypto)--I
wonder if people who use MS's explorer or whatever it is called are
faced with the same problems?

--
Peter D. Junger--Case Western Reserve University Law School--Cleveland, OH
Internet:  junger@pdj2-ra.f-remote.cwru.edu    junger@samsara.law.cwru.edu