Originally from : Ronny Purwadi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Originally dated: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 08:41:24 +0700
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<e-Software>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~Forum Diskusi Software dan Internet untuk Kristen-Katholik~~~~~~~
Sekilas Info :
Pake GIF bisa kena tagihan > $5000, -
berikut cuplikannya.
Unisys (blue line on chart), once a well-known
computer
company, holds a patent on a method of data
compression called
LZW. Other, much better, methods of data
compression are not
covered by any patent.
LZW is used in an obsolete graphic format
called GIF, which
many web sites use in order to be compatible
with old web
browsers. Unisys is now demanding that web
sites pay them
$5000 or more to use these now-obsolete GIF
graphics if the
software originally used to create the GIFs
was not covered by an
appropriate Unisys license.
The catch is that it appears to be difficult
or impossible to get a
Unisys license to use LZW in free software
that complies with the
Open Source Definition or in low-volume
proprietary software. gd
is an example of a package that can no longer
support GIF
because of Unisys's LZW licensing terms.
The fact that Unisys was able to patent LZW is
due to a flaw in
the US patent system that makes even
pencil-and-paper
calculations patentable. You could violate
some US patents just
doing the story problems in a math or computer
science textbook!
The League for Programming Freedom is working
to fix the US
patent system to harmonize it with those of
other, more sensible,
countries. In the meantime, Unisys's actions
are perfectly legal
under US law, so the only reasonable
alternative to paying the
"Unisys tax" on the web is to upgrade graphics
from GIF to PNG
format.
For more : http://burnallgifs.org/
I-KAN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% e-Software
Permulaan hikmat adalah takut akan TUHAN! Mazmur 111:10a / Amsal 9:10a
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