About the GIF image file format. Unisys has a patent on the LZW compression algorithm which is used to create the GIF file format. Recently I have heard that they are starting to demand royalties for their use. The good folks at the U.S. Patent Office seem to be a bit confused about the purpose of the granting of a patent. In particular, the non-obvious nature of patentable inventions.
The League for Programming Freedom has a website where you can learn more about the Burn all GIFs movement. There is additional information about other ridiculous patent litigation going on in the software industry.
Here is a link to an article titled "Gold Diggers". It appears on a website for lawyers. After reading it I do not think patent lawyers are the least bit concerned with the betterment of humanity. Can you say "bottom-feeding scum-sucker"?
Last updated on December 19, 1999