I don't have a problem saying MCRatings needs to be changed.
I also don't have a problem doing a search and replace to fix all the old URLs that no longer work.
But this change broke existing functionality, to wit, being able to open a URL with the File->Open URL command.
That command even has functionality built in so that if you have a URL on the clipboard, the dialog is automatically filled out with said URL. But that won't work now, because that URL will not be using the webmedia scheme. webmedia is not a standard scheme, it is private. Other programs that put a URL on the clipboard, like say a browser, will put the http:// scheme on there, not webmedia://. And http:// is now broken. And when you tell someone you can use a URL, the common understanding is a standardized URL, not just a private URL scheme.
Based on the quote I gave from previous release notes, that function is supposed to be smart enough, as you say, to recognize and use URL format that it finds. It no longer has that intelligence. But it used to work.
A change that invalidates all standard URLs in favor of only private schemes should not be something that just "happens". Something like that must be announced, if it happens at all. The fact it was not makes me wonder if this was intentional.
So maybe MCRatings needs to be fixed, but I would say so does MC.
Thanks again MGD_King for shedding some light on this.