  How did we get from a world where cookies were something you ate and where
"non-techies" were unaware of "Netscape cookies" to a world where cookies are a
hot-button privacy issue for many computer users? This paper will describe how
HTTP "cookies" work, and how Netscape's original specification evolved into an
IETF Proposed Standard. I will also offer a personal perspective on how what
began as a straightforward technical specification turned into a political
flashpoint when it tried to address non-technical issues such as privacy.
