Since the 1990s, browser plugins have evolved alongside web browsers to meet user needs and extend the internet experience. ActiveX and Flash, for example, were widely used to provide multimedia and security features, but have recently been targeted for removal due to security concerns and evolving web standards. While South Korea has made efforts to reduce its reliance on these plugins, it remains an issue as many sites still rely on them.
Since the internet became available to the masses in the 1990s, web browsers have become a part of our lives as a window into the internet. In the mid-to-late 90s, when web browsers began to become popular, Netscape and Internet Explorer were the main tools for using the Internet. Internet Explorer then dominated the market, ushering in an era of monopoly, and a few years later, competition among web browsers began to grow as various new browsers emerged. Throughout these changes, web browsers have evolved rapidly alongside the history of the Internet, and as a result, the evolution of web browsers has come to represent the evolution of the Internet.
That’s why some people say that the history of the Internet is the history of web browsers. But that’s not the whole story. The history of web browsers is not just about technological advancements. It’s also about a variety of social issues, including security issues, compatibility issues, and user experience issues. These issues have become increasingly important as web browsers have evolved, and one in particular has played an important role in supplementing the functionality of web browsers: browser plugins.
The term browser plugin may be somewhat unfamiliar, but if you’re a Korean, you’ve probably installed Active X or Adobe Flash at some point in your life. Plugins were developed to provide a wider variety of content over the internet, but they have become controversial because of the problems they cause. Remember the “Cheonsongi Coat” incident that became a big social issue a long time ago, where fans from overseas tried to purchase a coat worn by the main character of the drama “You from the Stars,” Jeon Ji Hyun, but were unable to proceed with the payment due to plugins that were forcibly installed on the shopping mall system in Korea. This incident was a prime example of the problems with the internet environment in Korea, and sparked a debate about how closed and inconvenient the internet experience in Korea is compared to overseas.
But how did these “browser plugins” come about, what did they do, and why did they become such a problem? In the early days, the Internet, or World Wide Web, was created for the purpose of academic research and sharing the results of that research. Early web browsers had minimal functionality, just enough to display text and images. But as the Internet spread to the masses and users’ needs became increasingly diverse, the basic functionality of the browser itself could not meet them. To fill these needs, various browser plugins were developed. Among the plug-ins that have extended the functionality of the browser to support more content are Java Applet, Netscape Plugin API (NPAPI), Active X, Flash, and Silverlight.
These plug-ins are used in a variety of areas, including games, video, and payment systems, among others, and have contributed to a convenient internet experience. For example, Flash made it possible to run high-definition animations and videos in web browsers in the early days of the internet, and Active X enabled a variety of features, including security programs. However, the overuse of plug-ins has also led to a number of problems. For one thing, they have significant security vulnerabilities. Because plug-ins run outside of the browser, if a plug-in contained malware, it could cause serious damage to the user’s entire system. Additionally, these plug-ins often only worked with certain browsers, forcing users to use a specific browser. The combination of these issues led to plug-ins becoming increasingly criticized, and various efforts to improve them began to take place around the world.
Advances in technology have also made plugins less and less necessary. In recent years, as web standards have evolved, most browsers have been able to support multimedia content natively, and JavaScript engines have improved significantly in performance, making it possible to run a wide variety of content without the need for plugins. As a result of these changes, major companies such as Google and Microsoft have gradually stopped supporting plugins in their browsers. For example, Google has stopped supporting NPAPI in Chrome, and Microsoft has ended support for ActiveX and Silverlight in its Edge browser. Flash content has become unavailable on most mobile devices, especially after Apple’s Steve Jobs dropped support for Flash in the mobile environment.
So where does this leave our country? Fortunately, the government, businesses, and academia have recognized the problem and are making various efforts to retire the browser plugin. Korea’s Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning announced the “Active X Free Plan” to reduce the reliance of websites in Korea on plugins. However, many sites still rely on plugins, making it inconvenient for users to use sites on modern browsers. In order for our internet environment to become safer and more convenient, governments and companies will need to speed up the adoption of web standard technologies, and users will also need to avoid sites that require plugins and work to promote healthy changes in the internet ecosystem.
