Microsoft Corp is reportedly on the prowl again, this time in pursuit of internet agent technology. According to PC Week, Redmond is about to snap up Firefly Network Inc, an intelligent agent company it has been working with for some time. Microsoft and Firefly got together last year to work on a privacy initiative within the auspices of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) called the Open Profiling specification (OPS). When Microsoft teamed with Firefly, Netscape Communications Corp accused Redmond of poaching Firefly’s work and claming it as its own. Firefly’s Passport software, which enables users to identify their interests so they only receive information in which they are interested. Agent technology seems like attracting the next wave of investments, following streaming audio and video last year and it would make sense for Microsoft to integrate the technology into Internet Explorer. And when you’re as big as Microsoft, you can afford to buy widely in the anticipation of some of the investments paying off, especially if you have a government breathing down your neck threatening to hit you at the heart of your core business. Neither company would comment on the story.
