Mozilla's plans to automatically block certain cookies in its Firefox browser earned praise from privacy advocates and disdain from the ad industry when it was announced earlier this year. But at this point, it's not clear when it will happen - or if it will at all.

The Mountain View open source software foundation revealed eight months ago it was testing a tool that would restrict, by default, tracking files from companies that users didn't interact with. The early expectation was that it would reach the general public in Firefox version 22, released in late June.

But a few months later, Mozilla halted the patch midway through the testing process. Then it announced plans to coordinate with the Cookie Clearinghouse initiative at Stanford on a more nuanced approach.

Now that effort is on hold, pushing completion of the project well into next year, The Chronicle has learned. Even then, Mozilla won't necessarily adopt the feature, an executive said in an interview.

"That remains to be seen," said Harvey Anderson, senior vice president of business and legal affairs. "Once that's out there, I think you still have to compare that against the other systems and ecosystems being proposed."Mozilla's Do Not Track For Firefox Looks To Be On Hold [sfgate.com]