Cannot buy ebooks using FireFox

That subject heading is only a mild exaggeration: I've just discovered
that I cannot buy ebooks in the popular MS Reader format when using
Mozilla FireFox as my internet browser. (That's been my default for a
week now, after previously using MSIE for many years.)

It's a fairly rare event (on balance I still prefer paper), but this
morning I went to http://www.fictionwise.com and bought an ebook,
eventually destined for my Pocket PC. It was offered in several
formats, but I chose MS Reader (.LIT extension). After credit card
payment, on attempting download I was dismayed to get a Fictionwise
message to the effect that I couldn't do so because MS Reader and/or
Activation (that darned DRM, copyright protection thing) was not
installed.

I knew that both *were*. I am able to read encrypted MS Reader books
on both PC and PPC. To cut to the quick, after a LOT of wasted time, I
eventually discovered the root cause. Nowhere did I find any advance
warning of this at Fictionwise, but it seems users must be using MSIE
to download books in MS Reader format.
"We're sorry, but the Activation process requires you to use one of
the following browsers:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 and higher
Netscape Navigator 4.08
Netscape Communicator 4.5x
Netscape Communicator 4.6x
Netscape Communicator 4.7x

I'm an end user, not a programmer. But I gather that this major
restriction is due to the need for ActiveX, which FireFox does not
support.

I finally downloaded my purchase using MSIE6.

Have any other ebook readers had similar problems?

I've emailed Fictionwise, suggesting they make this restriction clear
*before* payment is made.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
Using iPAQ 2210 with WM2003.

When you send a request to a website, your browser sends information
identifying itself and version number. MS does check for this and will
kick back messages indicating that the website will not function
properly because you are using an incompatible browser. Quite frankly
its a ploy to keep people on IE. Opera came up with a nice little gig
where you can tell Opera to identify itself as a different browser
because of this...heee...heee....heeee.

David H
Come on baby lite by fire: www.spreadFireFox.com

Terry Pinnell wrote:
> That subject heading is only a mild exaggeration: I've just discovered
> that I cannot buy ebooks in the popular MS Reader format when using
> Mozilla FireFox as my internet browser. (That's been my default for a
> week now, after previously using MSIE for many years.)
>
> It's a fairly rare event (on balance I still prefer paper), but this
> morning I went to http://www.fictionwise.com and bought an ebook,
> eventually destined for my Pocket PC. It was offered in several
> formats, but I chose MS Reader (.LIT extension). After credit card
> payment, on attempting download I was dismayed to get a Fictionwise
> message to the effect that I couldn't do so because MS Reader and/or
> Activation (that darned DRM, copyright protection thing) was not
> installed.
>
> I knew that both *were*. I am able to read encrypted MS Reader books
> on both PC and PPC. To cut to the quick, after a LOT of wasted time, I
> eventually discovered the root cause. Nowhere did I find any advance
> warning of this at Fictionwise, but it seems users must be using MSIE
> to download books in MS Reader format.
> "We're sorry, but the Activation process requires you to use one of
> the following browsers:
>
> Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 and higher
> Netscape Navigator 4.08
> Netscape Communicator 4.5x
> Netscape Communicator 4.6x
> Netscape Communicator 4.7x
>
> I'm an end user, not a programmer. But I gather that this major
> restriction is due to the need for ActiveX, which FireFox does not
> support.
>
> I finally downloaded my purchase using MSIE6.
>
> Have any other ebook readers had similar problems?
>
> I've emailed Fictionwise, suggesting they make this restriction clear
> *before* payment is made.
>