"What really surprises me is how readily the web design industry caved and paid up"
I don't think there were enough good alternatives at the time. Perhaps secondarily though, the people making these decisions just look at it as another line item on their invoice - it's not coming out of their pocket.
From a small business perspective, if someone tells me my website is going to cost more (maybe in perpetuity?) to use fancy fonts XYZ that creative agency ABC's designer 'just loves', I'd tell them to get stuffed and find something that's free or cheaper.
But agencies that make these decisions are typically dealing with larger clients, and the people making those decisions are working from a budget, not their own pocket.
I don't think there were enough good alternatives at the time. Perhaps secondarily though, the people making these decisions just look at it as another line item on their invoice - it's not coming out of their pocket.
From a small business perspective, if someone tells me my website is going to cost more (maybe in perpetuity?) to use fancy fonts XYZ that creative agency ABC's designer 'just loves', I'd tell them to get stuffed and find something that's free or cheaper.
But agencies that make these decisions are typically dealing with larger clients, and the people making those decisions are working from a budget, not their own pocket.