> I am almost done with image support in xforms, but one question
> makes me uneasy. As you might know that the simple act of using GIF
> format without paying royalty to CompuServ is a violation of some
> intellectual property claims of CompuServ Incorporated. I put the
> support in, but left it disabled. To actually use it, the users of
> xforms have to enable it. I am wondering if I am in the clear with
> lawsuit. I can certainly make the enabling routine named something
> like fl_I_am_enabling_GIF_support_and_TC_wont_be_responsible() or
> something like that :-), but I am sure if that buys
> anything. Suggestions ?
TC: My understanding of the law is that anyone can *read* the GIF
format but having a GIF *writer* requires a license from CompuServ
and/or Unisys (they're the real patent holders LZW [Lempel-Zev-Welch],
the encoding algorithm).
Here's what the notes (`README-about-.gz-files') in the GNU archive
say, in part, about LZW with respect to Unix `compress':
Because the `compress' utility is covered by patents (US 4,464,650
and 4,558,302), we cannot use it; it is not free software.
Instead, the GNU Project uses the `gzip' program, which is free of
known software patents and also compresses better than `compress'.
Files compressed with this method end with `.gz'.
Gzip can also uncompress files compressed with `compress'
(i.e. files ending in `.Z'), since the uncompression algorithm is
not patented.
[...]
Of course, nothing herein should be taken as legal advice since I am
not a copyright or trademark lawyer, etc., etc., etc.
spl
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