typeface.js -- Rendering text with Javascript, canvas, and VML

The difference is that by distributing the actual font file with your website, you're creating a copy of the font. The end user can install that file, and then use the font like any other on their system. In the magazine example, you're only distributing the end result of a font -- the user can't take the magazine and generate new documents using that font.

This is a good example of how copyright light hasn't translated well to the digital age. Almost everything you do on a computer involves creating a copy of intellectual property, and the law hasn't really caught up with that fact.

In the U.S. (and many European nations?, but not Germany or France), typefaces cannot be copyrighted, but fonts can.

The distinction is that a font is the digital representation of a typeface. Although some fonts have received design patents, that is fairly rare.

So, the actual font file is in fact subject to copyright in the U.S., and distributing it through the browser could be considered a violation.

IE's current support is limited to the EOT format I believe (http://ajaxian.com/archives/the-fight-for-fantastic-fonts-or...), which is almost completely unused in the real world. There would need to be a lot more work done in this area to make it practical I think.