In 1982 Jabil went into high-tech with a contract to make add-on boards for the IBM Personal Computer unit in Boca Raton, Fla.

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But the Firefox add-on could make it harder for companies to squeeze in new privacy loopholes or other sneaky tactics going forward.

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Some readers will be willing to make that trade-off, especially if Irex is able to add specialized stores in the future that offer, say, a large selection of non-English-language books.

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