[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Would you rather see sites which use
> Javascript switch to using cookies? Both Amazon and Google, to use
> your two examples, make liberal use of cookies to keep track of
> users. PAT]
Absolutely! Cookies can't open and close windows in my browser or run malicious software on my machine. I can restrict the lifetime of cookies; in fact, I can refuse to store cookies on my system for any longer than the current session. And as far as I can tell, I can run amazon.com (the non-SSL part) and google.com under Lynx, refusing all cookies altogether.
Google and Amazon are going to have to store any tracking information about me on their own servers. (Which is certainly what the Bush administration is hoping they will do.)
George Mitchell
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You have a good point there. PAT]