[svlug] Burn All GIFs Day

[Derek J. Balling]

At 11:57 AM 11/2/99 -0800, Don Marti wrote:

>Unisys Corporation, owner of the patent for GIF technology, is asking
>for a FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR license fee from Web authors who use GIF
>files on their sites.

This statement is wildly inaccurate. I dislike this situation as much as 
the next guy, but to tell blatant falsehoods is equally reprehensible.

Unisys is asking for a license fee from web authors who CREATE GIF files on 
their sites, using software that is otherwise unlicensed to use the LZW 
compression.

The average web author, who is not using GD or the like, will never hear a 
peep from Unisys, because the software they use (Paint Shop Pro, or 
whatever) to create GIF's already has a license.

This affects solely people who create GIFs using unlicensed software, not 
people who "use GIF files" on their sites.

D


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