[Semi Civil Servant]

GIF is owned by Unisys. I've seen graphics programs that don't include GIF. I assume it's for that reason.

Unisys waited a long time before they began to assert their ownership rights. They got a lot of free NEGATIVE publicity. I have no idea of the legal status of the issue, but I see GIFs all over the web. I don't think most people take the Unisys claims too seriously. LZW (the GIF compression formula) is an algorithm. It's sort of like copyrighting 2+2 = 4.

I see the jpeg claims going the same way. If they "win", everyone will stop using the format. So what is the point?

[TomGuy]

Unisys found that out. After a decade of free use of the GIF format, they tried to cash in and put the genie back in the bottle. Forgent with JPG is trying to do the same thing. Both companies are using "loopholes" to try to cash in on big dollars. Forgent will find themselves in a similar situation as Unisys. PNG will probably get another push, or some kid will develop an imaging software that will put GIF and JPG to shame.

[Semi Civil Servant]

P.S.:

The basic U.S. patent for GIF expires in June, 2003. (Other "extensions" are "pending".) So maybe we can all shift away from jpeg to GIF next June until jpeg expires.

For 3 extra points: what percentage of corporations are run by masters of ticking off the general public?

[Quicksilver]

You'rActually it's the compression used in GIF (and licensed to CompuServe, I think)) that UNISYS owns, AFAIK, CompuServe created GIF.e right it's UNISYS that owns the compre

[Old Airplane Driver]

The legal status is that Unisys owns the patent to the compression algorithm used in GIF files. If you run a business and either display or output GIF files from your software, you must license the algorithm from Unisys. Even when you buy image processing libraries for use in software development, GIF output is disabled until you get a license key from Unisys. Unisys has ample legal capacity to stop any small company in its tracks -- all they have to do is file a law suit. The problem for small companies is that Unisys demands a "prepayment" of royalties of $25,000 no matter how small you are. That is a show-stopper for a small company and mine, for example, simply can't use GIF for that reason.

On the upside, PNG is a public standard and has more features than GIF, JPG, and TIF put together. Most of the browsers and graphics programs already handle it, so it is easy to switch. Since Forgent has apparently been formed for the sole purpose of "mining" the JPG patent, they may just be the force that is needed to get everyone over to a free public standard.

Here is an example of a PNG. See if it displays in your browser: