Comments on: Font linking, type foundries, and DRM

By: A Call For Open Sourcing Our Fonts — Some Random Dude

A Call For Open Sourcing Our Fonts — Some Random Dude — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:11:29 +0000

[...] embedding becomes commonplace on sites catering to current generation browsers. There is a large collection of blog articles discussing the obvious ramifications of embedding commercially-licensed fonts, the [...]

By: bradt

bradt — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:45:25 +0000

If the font is slow to load (or fails), it will add a lot of lag to your web site which is a very big deal. And again, what happens if they close up shop? All customers get screwed out of their money.

I certainly appreciate the problem of fonts being taken for granted but I believe that a font store that delivers a pleasant experience and sensible licenses is what is needed. I completely disagree that any type of DRM will be an effective solution.

By: Rene

Rene — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:40:09 +0000

It’s really no big deal if it failed. I would just revert back to a web font. Just like with sIFR — if you don’t have it, no biggie. Not visually perfect, but at least nothing breaks and functionality is maintained.

I’m not saying it’s perfect, but at least it’s somewhat of a middle ground.

Being a bit of a type freak, I’m concerned at how type, more than any other art, is taken for granted. It’s almost like everyone expect fonts to be free. And that can last forever if we want access to quality fonts.

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:00:12 +0000

Yea, I’ve heard that proposition before but I don’t like it. I have little faith that the type foundries would do a good job hosting the fonts. And what happens when one shuts down? It’s MSN Music all over again.

By: Rene

Rene — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:07:37 +0000

What type foundries should do is host the fonts and sell the access. CSS @font-face permits external hosted fonts, and with type foundries hosting them and selling licenses/access sounds like a better solution for everyone. That way they control font usage per domain (or something like that). I’m sure that can’t be too technically difficult.