This posting may not have made the list, owing to a changed e-mail address ... (?) Regards, Joe. > -----Original Message----- > From: da Silva, Joe > Sent: Thursday, 1 June 2000 18:13 > To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' > Subject: RE: GIF (Q:Arachne and PNG) > > Hmmm ... What a legal minefield ! > > What they (Unisys) seem to be saying is that all GIF > (LZW actually) applications require a license and that : > > 1. The terms of the license determine just what rights are > conveyed ... This certainly would apply to users of the > application, but may even apply to the LZW-encoded > data itself (this was not spelt out very clearly) ! > 2. Some licenses require no license fees (presumably > for freeware, although this was not spelt out). However, > see 1 (above) ! > 3. F.U.D.: If you are not sure you need a license, get one > anyway, just to be sure ! > > I'm sure this new attitude could not be applied to those > freeware applications created at the time when Unisys > stated : "You don't need a license for freeware" (this is > not a direct quote ;-) ! > > Also, LZW is getting a bit old by now ... I wonder when > the patent(s) expires? > > Regards, > Joe. > > PS. You are all aware, aren't you, that there are similar > issues with MP3? :-( > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Thursday, 1 June 2000 11:28 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: GIF (Q:Arachne and PNG) > > > > My understanding is that UNISYS only charges for > > COMMERCIAL use of the GIF format ... (?) > > Check this out http://www.mosfet.org/gif-0407.html > > rimez > > > Regards, > > Joe.
