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The GIF Format is Finally Patent-Free

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the happy-birthday dept.

tonymercmobily writes "Not many people noticed that the GIF file format is only now free from patents, as of the 1st of October 2006. Quick recap: first in 1999 Unisys tried to extort money from users and developers. Then, in 2003 the world hoped that the saga would finally be over. Then, in 2004, it was IBM's turn. Now, the SAGA seems to be over for real! Does anybody find Unisys' page on GIF as hilarious as I do...?"

11 of 369 comments (clear)

  1. Just in time... by xENoLocO · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... for it to be obsolete.

    --
    "The need to build the internet comes from something inside us, something programmed... something we can't resist."
    1. Re:Just in time... by creepynut · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I for one, don't think GIF is going anywhere. Limited to 256 colours, sure. Keep in mind GIF is one of the most well supported image formats out there, and in the same format we have both transparency (1-bit, at that) and animation. PNG is nice, but thanks to Microsoft, and it's own not supporting animation, it just doesn't work for some things yet.

      I'm sure a big supporter of PNG, but understand why GIF is still around.

    2. Re:Just in time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not supporting animation is PNG's greatest benefit!

    3. Re:Just in time... by mugnyte · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Dude, GIF for animations?

        Like spinning arrows marking paragraphs?
        Howabout dancing pokemon?
        Forum avatar images that flash, blink and jump?
        Emoticons that wink and wave?

        Really, is there any way that technology has enhanced your web experience for the better?

        There are two metaphors here people are used to: Static reading mode, and TV mode. Combining the two is a no no. Do NOT animate portions of a reading metaphor (over-stimuli), and do NOT ask people to just read words via video (under-stimuli).

        The same goes for sound. If people want to listen to something, OFFER it to them, and let them control the start and stop of it. Playing sounds unasked on a web page is just...trashy. Animations are no different.

        HINT: Adblock is popular for a reason. Even IE6 allows one to stop GIFs from animating.

    4. Re:Just in time... by jthill · · Score: 5, Funny

      I have two answers.

      --
      As always, all IMO. Insert "I think" everywhere grammatically possible.
    5. Re:Just in time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Bow down before MNG the merciless!

    6. Re:Just in time... by value_added · · Score: 5, Informative

      When MNG (animated PNG) is supported by all major browsers, I probably won't use GIF for anything anymore.

      Not being a web developer, I'm not familiar with the features and benefits of MNGs, but if they're at all similar to animated GIFs, I hope Firefox's image.animation_mode=none setting will apply when visiting the web sites you design.

    7. Re:Just in time... by JourneyExpertApe · · Score: 5, Funny

      But how are people going to know that their computers are infected with 10,342 viruses and spyware if they don't see the vibrating, flashing, and really convincing message box at the top of the webpage?

      --
      If you can read this sig, you're too close.
  2. Hilarious? USPTO is Hilarious by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Does anybody find Unisys' page on GIF as hilarious as I do...?
    What's so hilarious about it? It plainly states that the patents have expired and that they have more patents based on the technology. I find it sad that their legal department found that necessary.

    What I find genuinely hilarious, however, is the United State of America's Patent System.
    --
    My work here is dung.
  3. well by macadamia_harold · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As lame as this whole thing was, if it hadn't happened, we wouldn't have the PNG standard today.

    --
    Push Button, Receive Bacon
  4. Patents, the world, and Certicom by Ckwop · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course, like most on here, I will relish the day that the LZW patent expires. But look at how long that took to expire. Every day someone patents yet another obvious invention and it holds everybody back.

    Take the Certicom 'Patents' on Eliptic Curve cryptography (ECC). Certicom act as if they own ECC - the write it on practically everything they publish.

    Yet on close analysis their patents give them almost no real control of ECC. The long and short of it that anything that operates on GF(p) is not covered.

    The consequences of this is that NOBODY is using ECC, despite the fact that it's faster and has shorter keys. The whole field is held back for 20 years and nobody can make any progress.

    It's not even used in Europe where these patents don't exist. Let me repeat this: The fact that some jerk of a company says it's theirs means the *whole* world doesn't use me.

    I really wonder what goes through the minds of these poeple. Nobody wants to pay a fucktard like Certicom (tm) for a license for their mathematics. Nobody in the history of cryptography has made any serious amount of money from selling a security scheme. Why bother?

    Simon