A C-NET news article on Yahoo! yesterday reports that Unisys is expanding its efforts to license the technology behind the Web's most popular graphics format, as it continues talks with major Internet portals to pay for the right to use so-called GIF files.

Yahoo! says that Unisys recently has become more aggressive in asserting its GIF patent, called Lempel-Ziv-Welch compression technology (LZW), targeting Web content companies and charging higher licensing fees. According to the story, Unisys currently has big targets Yahoo! and Disney's Go.com in its sights, but the implications are much broader than that.

In July 1999, Unisys decided to use its LZW patent against some Websites that use GIFs. LZW is used in some (but apparently not all) GIF images, which are ubiquitous on the Web. Unisys is reportedly demanding that web sites pay them $5000 or more to use GIF graphics if the software originally used to create the GIFs was not covered by an appropriate Unisys license.

This move by Unisys incited a popular backlash movement in the Web community, particularly among the open source software crowd. Protesters organized a "burn all GIFs day" and began promoting alternative technologies unencumbered by patents, such as PNG. You can read all about it at the BurnAllGIFs Website here:
http://burnallgifs.org/

It boggles the mind as to why any company would want to make itself the object of the wrath of millions of Internet developers and users the way Unisys has with this GIF fiasco. After their more aggressive assertion of their patent rights was announced last summer, the company received over 1000 online attacks from outraged netizens, which did nothing to change the company's mind about the policy.

Mark Starr, General Patent and Technology Counsel is quoted in a SlashDot article saying that Unisys is not a free software booster: "We do not use freeware in our own products as a matter of policy. It could violate someone's license, it could be trash. Anyone who uses freeware does so at their own risk." Mr. Starr added that he does not believe the potential PR value involved in giving LZW technology away is worthwhile, noting: "We've [given free licenses to] hundreds of non-profit organizations, schools, and governments, but we haven't gotten much good publicity over it," according to the SlashDot article.

Well, there's corporate lawyer-think for you. In point of fact, there is plenty of freeware (more and more all the time) that does not violate anyone's license rights, and I wonder if Mr. Starr has given any thought to the effect bad publicity might have on his company's fortunes?

However, Unisys is apparently within its rights, so that behooves the Web community to dump the GIF as soon as possible and embrace an alternative, open source, graphics format.

The BurnAll GIFs Website implores readers not to flame Unisys. As they put it: "Unisys has had 14 years or so to develop their position on LZW licensing, and one more flame war won't change anything. Switch to a non-patented graphics format, burn your GIFs to call attention to the fact that you're doing so, and avoid patent minefields in the future.

"When it comes to the Web, Unisys didn't just miss the boat, they missed the harbor nd the ocean. They'll miss the next big thing too. Free and open standards are winning. Win and be happy. Burn All GIFs Day is about getting out of patent problems, not about getting into flame wars."

Good advice. Sending obscene and abusive messages to Unisys is not likely to change their minds, and only serves to make the open source/open standards community look like a bunch of juvenile idiots. There are other, more responsible and creative ways to express your disgust at Unisys' bad corporate citizenship. Like not using their patented technology.

A list of Alternatives to LZW GIF's can be found on the burnallGIFs Website.

The most promising free alternative is the open source PNG (pronounced "ping") graphics format.

The Unisys LZW patent is will reportedly expire in the United States in 2003, but by that time one hopes that the issue will be moot

The C-NET article notes that barriers to comprehensive PNG adoption have been dropping, and the latest versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer for Macintosh and Netscape Navigator are compatible with PNG, and Mozilla.org which is developing the new Netscape 6 browser is expected to include PNG support as well.

Mr. Starr told C-NET that since Unisys' the new LZW licensing policy was implemented, the company has signed only one of the controversial $5,000 agreements. Let's hope its the last one.

Charles W. Moore

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July 05, 2009