GIF

As an example of the dangers of use of proprietary solutions, consider the GIF file format:

  • Unisys announce that they hold patent to compression algorithm used in GIF images and users of GIF will have to pay
  • Following much debate, Unisys require payment for licence from software developers - and also for end users of unlicensed software ($5,000!)
  • Web community responds with PNG format
  • See <http://burnallgifs.org/>

WARNING:

  • There is no guarantee that payment will not be required for proprietary file formats which are currently free

Standards