From wsinda@wsintt16.win.tue.nl (Dick Alstein) Fri Jan 6 12:40:15 1995 Path: doc.ic.ac.uk!sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk!uknet!EU.net!sun4nl!news.nic.surfnet.nl!tuegate.tue.nl!news.win.tue.nl!news.win.tue.nl!not-for-mail From: wsinda@wsintt16.win.tue.nl (Dick Alstein) Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn Subject: Re: GIF format no longer free Date: 5 Jan 1995 14:01:45 +0100 Organization: Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands Lines: 74 Message-ID: <3egqjp$lnk@wsintt16.win.tue.nl> References: <19950105.021744.23@bigblue.demon.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: wsintt16.info.win.tue.nl >Anyone know were to send complaints to compuserve. Umm, maybe you should read this first: -------- snip -------- From: zap@lysator.liu.se (H}kan Andersson) Newsgroups: comp.graphics,comp.infosystems.www.providers Subject: CALM DOWN! GIF/Unisys situation completely misunderstood!!!!! Date: 5 Jan 1995 08:32:14 GMT People, people, CALM DOWN! This all originates from a huge misunderstanding! >From reading the available documents CORRECTLY (and not like Satan reads the Bible) and listening to Tim Oren, and trying to use my HeAD, I get the following results out of it, in chronological order: -1.1984: Unisys patents LZW 0. 1987: Compuserve defines GIF, unknowing about the Unisys patent. 1. 1994: Unisys attacks Compuserve (CIS) for using the LZW patent. Agreed, this is a Foul Trick. The reasons I leave for you to speculate. But they targeted the most Obvious Violator of their Patent. 2. Unisys sits down with CIS and negotiates a) An agreement between CiS and Unisys. (Which is higly confidential) b) An agreement for CIS DEVELOPERS and people making CIS-RELATED- PRODUCTS. CIS does this as a SERVICE TO THEIR OWN DEVELOPERS, so THEY WILL NOT HAVE TO HAVE THE BATTLE WITH UNISYS THEMSELVES! 2.5 Read 2 again, until you got it. 3. Late 1994: The agreement b) escapes out on the net. 4. Agreement b) is misinterpreted. People believe it applies to ALL GIF DEVELOPERS IN THE WHOLE WORLD. This is wrong. The intention of this document is for the CIS RELATED DEVELOPERS ONLY. (Read it! Does it any- where say it applies to YOU? No. It applies to the Signed Party. Meaning, it doesn't apply unless you sign it. However, CIS has other agreements with their own developers ALREADY SIGNED. What CIS wanted to do was to put them "under their protective wing" and negotiate for them. THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR THEM - NOT FOR YOU! This is the NEW AGREEMENT FOR THE CIS RELATED DEVELOPERS *ONLY*) 5. UNISYS only holds a patent for COMPRESSING LZW Results or All Of The Above, the BOTTOM LINE: A: If you have made a GIF *decoding* sofware - do absolutely NOTHING. B: If you have made a GIF *ENcoding* software, you have three choices: a) Wait until UNISYS tries to get to you. (CIS will not do anything to you. They are covering their ass, and their friens ass, not yours) But remember, UNISYS start from biggest to smallest. Unisys targeted CIS first. Then, they will go to next biggest, and so on. (IF they go on at all!) So, it will be next decade before they get to "John Doe, maker of TARGA2GIF.EXE" and try to sue him for $5. And the LZW patent expires in two years, so go figure! b) Negotiate for youself with UNISYS c) Sign the CIS agreement. But then you will shoot yourself in the foot because you will become a CIS-ONLY developer, and you dont want that, do you???!??! This all naturally does not stop one from being pissed that Unisys suddenly decided to whine about a 7 year old software implementation of their patent, which they previously did nada about software implementations for!! -------- snip -------- -- Dick Alstein | Before the War, she never thought life was such email: wsinda@win.tue.nl | a fragile thing that it had to be patched together tel : +31 40 474579 | with a purpose. (Marianne Wiggins, "John Dollar")