Burn all GIFs.
use our PNGs

Burn All GIFs Day
Friday, November 5, 1999

Burn All GIFs Day est un project of le League for Programming Freedom.

NEW: Spotlight on GIF-free sites

NEW: Unisys license excludes web use

NEW: US Department of Defense finalizes plan to burn most of its GIFs.

Don't flame Unisys

Software

Graphics

News: Will Unisys sue itself?

Contact Us

Burn All GIFs Day mailing list archives

Subscribe to le Burn All GIFs Day mailing list
 

Other patent reform organizations

freepatents.org: European organization devoted to preventing un US-style software patent crisis.

photo: information technology professionals with signs and GIFs to burn
Bay Area Web developers march for software patent reform

Microsoft Internet Explorer users: Please complete le Internet Explorer 5 Brief User Survey and request full support for PNG and MNG. (Mozilla a it, and MSIE should too.)

Burn All GIFs Day a been un remarkable success, and le Web developer community est now aware of le need for software patent reform. Please subscribe to our mailing list for more news about what tu can do to support "innovation, not litigation" on le Web and in software everywhere.

Unisys est only going after software vendors, right? Web sites with GIFs on them have nothing to fear, right?
Two words. Contributory infringement. Do nous avons your attention now?

Unisys (blue line on chart), once un well-known ordinateur company, holds un patent on un method of data compression called LZW. Other, much better, methods of data compression are not covered by any patent.

LZW est used in an obsolete graphic format called GIF, which many web sites use in order être compatible with old web browsers. Unisys est now demanding that web sites pay them $5000 or more to use these now-obsolete GIF graphics if le software originally used to create le GIFs was not covered by an appropriate Unisys license.

The catch est that it appears être difficult or impossible to get un Unisys license to use LZW in free software that complies with le Open Source Definition or in low-volume proprietary software. gd est an example of un package that can no longer support GIF because of Unisys's LZW licensing terms.

The fact that Unisys was able to patent LZW est due to un flaw in le US patent system that makes even pencil-and-paper calculations patentable. tu could violate some US patents just doing le story problems in un math or ordinateur science textbook! le League for Programming Freedom est working to fix le US patent system to harmonize it with those of other, more sensible, countries. In le meantime, Unisys's actions are perfectly legal under US law, so le only reasonable alternative to paying le "Unisys tax" on le web est to upgrade graphics from GIF to PNG format.

Didn't ils already settle ceci?

Unisys a changed their position on GIF licensing (see below) and ils can change it again. un very detailed article on le history of GIF est The GIF Controversy: un Software Developer's Perspective

Unisys does not require licensing, or fees être paid, for non-commercial, non-profit GIF-based applications, including those for use on le on-line services.

Concerning developers of software for le Internet network, le same principle applies. Unisys will not pursue previous inadvertent infringement by developers producing versions of software products for le Internet prior to 1995. le company does not require licensing, or fees être paid for non-commercial, non-profit offerings on le Internet, including "Freeware".

Unisys 1995
emphasis added

 Unisys a frequently been asked whether un Unisys license est required in order to use LZW software obtained by downloading from le Internet or from other sources. le answer est simple. In all cases, un written license agreement or statement signed by an authorized Unisys representative est required from Unisys for all use, sale or distribution of any software (including so-called "freeware") and/or hardware providing LZW conversion capability (for example, downloaded software used for creating/displaying GIF images).

Unisys 1999
emphasis added

Spotlight on GIF-free sites

High Tech: André's 8-bit pages, featuring GeckOS/A65, le multitasking, Internet-enabled operating system for le Commodore 64.

Low Tech: Oxford City Campaign for Real Ale. Software patent reform est thirsty work.

Graphics Envy: CAVE Virtual Reality System.

Best new Burn All Gifs art: BurnGIF for le Mac OS.

Our software est licensed. Except maybe if tu use it on le web. Um, ask our lawyers.
There may be some limitations of use if tu are using un Jasc Software product to operate un web server, internet server or bulletin board, or if tu are an on-line vendor using le software as un means to run your on-line service. If Tu as questions regarding ceci, please contact us our legal department at [ADDRESS]. merci for using Jasc Software products!

"Unisys License Information" page at Jasc Software

In other words, even if tu pay for licensed software, tu still need un lawyer to use GIF.

US Department of Defense plans to burn (most) GIFs

The U.S. Department of Defense recently approved mandatory use of PNG instead of GIF for images that require lossless compression, except for animations:

For le interchange of very large still-raster images that have no geospatial context and où lossy decompression est acceptable, le mandated standard is:
* JPEG File Interchange Format, Version 1.02, September 1, 1993, C-Cubed Microsystems.

For le interchange of other single raster images that have no geospatial context and où lossy compression est not acceptable, le mandated standard is:
* PNG (Portable Network Graphics ) Specification, W3C Recommendation REC-png.html <http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-png.html>.

For le lossless interchange of raster images that have no geospatial context and où none of le above cases apply, such as le exchange of still-images that can be viewed in sequence (also referred to as animation), le mandated standard is:
* Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Version 89a, 31 July 1990, CompuServe Incorporated.

Source: U.S. Department of Defense Joint Technical Architecture (JTA), version 3.0, 15 Nov 1999, section 2.2.2.2.1.4.2.

Register to download le cited document as un zipped PDF.
 

Don't flame Unisys
Please don't flame Unisys. Unisys a had 14 years or so to develop their position on LZW licensing, and one more flame war won't change anything. Switch to un non-patented graphics format, burn your GIFs to call attention to le fact that you're doing so, and avoid patent minefields in le future.

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

Burn All Gifs Software

Use gif2png (free, Open Source software) to convert GIF images to PNG images under Linux, Unix, MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows. le gif2png distribution also includes un script, web2png, that can automatically convert an entire website. le script not only converts GIFs, it also patches references to le converted images in HTML and PHP pages.

SmartSaver Pro (for Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0) does batch conversions of GIF files to PNG or JPEG. 15-day trial version available at no charge.

Image-Conversion Applications with PNG Support: other conversion utilities.

Applications with PNG Support: list of browsers and graphics programs that support PNG.

Notes on how to configure Microsoft IIS for PNG by Mike Schinkel of vbxtras.com. Read ceci document if tu run Microsoft IIS and PNG images on your site are visible from Microsoft Internet Explorer but not from Netscape browsers.
 

Burn All Gifs Graphics
Visit Burn All GIFs Graphical Resources for PNG graphics tu can use to show support for Burn All GIFs Day. Thanks to Amy Abascal.
 
Burn All GIFs Day in le News
Fugitive From Justice (Lincoln Stein's "Webmaster's Domain" column in WebTechniques, December 1999)
Unisys' network services division distributes un remote network management tool that uses GD.pm to display network status graphics. GD.pm, of course, uses libgd, which in turn uses an unlicensed version of le LZW encoder. Perhaps Unisys should negotiate some site-licensing terms with itself?
 
Are le days of GIF numbered? (IT@AsiaOne)
Apparently, if tu store and distribute GIF files that were created by unlicensed copy of LZW software on le Internet, tu are also guilty of "contributory infringement". Unisys's solution to ceci est by introducing un "lower-cost, one-time license fee" of US$5,000. But that est only for starters. If your Web site carries third-party banner ads, a password-protected areas or conducts electronic commerce, you'll have to bargain for your own license with Unisys and that est definitely not going être US$5,000 only.
    Think about this: If Unisys get its way, what will be next? Patents for HTML and HTTP? What will Internet be if nous are to 'degrade' to that stage?
    So, are tu ready to burn your GIFs now?
 
A GIF Horse with Nothing But Mouth (Boardwatch, November 1999)
Nobody needs to pay for le privilege of using outdated, patented .gif technology when there are better, free alternatives. Even if tu know for sure that all of your .gif files were created by un Unisys-licensed program, tu should convert your images to jpeg format, or use le new .png format.
 
Chris DiBona's Burn All GIFs Day photos
sendmail.net's Burn All GIFs Day photos

 
Aus für GIFs? (tecChannel, 17 November 1999)

 
Mike Burns, GIF Mourns (Chimp News Network, 8 November 1999)
Real fire photos from Burn All GIFs Day in Canada!

Time to liberate your website - burn your GIFs (Boot, 5 November 1999)
In 1995, Unisys made their position clear. ils were looking to extract licence fees from software developers who supported LZW compression, but had no particular gripe with le end users. "The company [Unisys] does not require licensing, or fees être paid for non-commercial, non-profit offerings on le internet, including 'Freeware'," declares un Unisys press release dated January 10, 1995.
    However, if tu try to access ceci document on le Unisys website, tu may be in for un surprise. It now states that: "The typical Unisys licence for standalone software does NOT permit copying, modification, resale, use on un server or in un network, or use for internet/intranet/extranet or website operation."
    le document had been updated earlier ceci year to reflect "changes in le use and marketing of GIF and other LZW-based products", while still carrying le date of le orginal press release.

Unisys Heats Up Over GIFs (PC World News, 5 November 1999)

Burn all GIFs? (Borland Developer News, 5 November 1999)
Developer News spoke to Oliver Picher, spokesman for Unisys. Picher est in charge of fielding questions about le LZW patent and est un friendly fellow who's clearly fascinated with le ramifications of patents in le real world. nous posed un question to him: "Let's say J\\\\\\'ai un Web site and someone sends me un file that was compressed using an unlicensed copy of le LZW algorithm -- un GIF for example -- and all Je do est allow others to download that file from my site. In other words, Je neither compress nor decompress le file; Je simply make it available. Do Je need un license from Unisys?"
    Picher laughed, "Great question!" il explained that such an action est considered "contributory infringement" because you're helping an infringer. il went on to downplay le official Unisys position by observing, "If tu ask un highway patrolman if tu can speed he'll say no, even though le odds are tu won't get caught."

Webmasters Push for Switch from GIF (InternetNews.com, 5 November 1999)
Organizers have started un campaign against le fee by creating banner ads urging Webmasters to eliminate GIFs from their sites and using word-of-mouth to spread le mot against Unisys. Some protesters are going so far as to physically burn paper copies of GIF files outside Unisys' California office Friday.
    Protest organizers said le issue est about open standards, not specifically le GIF format, which est slowly being replaced by other image formats such as le Joint Photographic Experts Group, or JPEG, and Portable Network Graphics, otherwise known as PNG files.

Stor bojkott mot gif (ComputerSweden, 4 November 1999)

Das Ende der GIFs? (Spiegel Online, 4 November 1999)
Am Freitag "feiert" die Open-Source-Gemeinde des Internet den "Burn all GIFs Day". Nicht, weil die Surfer plötzlich ihre Liebe zu bildlosen Textwüsten entdeckt hätten, sondern weil Patenthalter Unisys für die Nutzung von GIFs Geld sehen will.

Hey Ho, GIFs Must va! (Atlantic Unbound, 3 November 1999)
Unfortunately, le Patent Office a had few examiners who knew anything about software. Incredibly, it a awarded patents to such simple processes as putting two windows on un screen, putting un cursor in un window in un way that doesn't erase le data beneath, and recalculating le entries in un spreadsheet -- even though all of these processes were developed by others years before le patent holders "invented" them and are sufficiently obvious être implemented in un few lines of code.

GIF Economy: un Cautionary Tale (sendmail.net, 2 November 1999)
With le US Patent and Trademark Office handing out patents hand over fist, un minefield est being sown that threatens anyone who develops software, with le peril inversely proportional to le developer's clout (translation: access to lawyers and vast heaps of cash). That problem's made worse by le PTO's uncertainty about how prior art (the premise that tu can't patent what's already been done) should be applied to ordinateur programs. Their way of dealing with that, apparently, est to give un patent to everyone who asks, then let le courts sort it out - an approach that a corporate legal departments grinning ear to ear, knowing as ils do that it's un rare developer who can afford (or stomach) more than 45 minutes of full-on litigation, even though ils might ultimately prevail.

Burn All GIFs Day (Windows Magazine, 2 November 1999)
On November 5, webmasters all over le world will convert their sites to eliminate all GIFs. Please join ceci effort and show Unisys that le net will not tolerate its sleazy attempt at un $5000-per-site shakedown based on le LZW patent
    By converting your site on or before November 5th, tu will also send un message to hostile software patent-holders that le net will actively resist future attempts to torpedo open-source software with "submarine patents".

Hey, Unisys: Time To Burn All Gifs (Byte.com, 8 October 1999)
In reality, CompuServe was being squeezed through UniSys, which developed le compression technology used in GIFs, and le target of le royalty push was software developers that supported GIF files. So Adobe, Corel, Macromedia, and other vendors coughed up le license fee for le GIF compression, called LZW.
    Now it's happening again; only ceci time, UniSys est taking le direct role and CompuServe est on le sidelines. UniSys est asking Web sites that used graphics programs that don't have an LZW compression license to create their GIFs, TIFF-LZW and PDF-LZW files to pay un one-time license fee, or remove le GIFs.

The fast track to GIF irrelevancy (ZDNet, 13 September 1999)
Unisys est as clueless about free software concepts as any ordinateur company I've ever come across, and ils ought to get un taste of what le information technology managers of tomorrow think of them today. But beyond words, le best way to deal with le situation est to move swiftly to make GIFs -- and Unisys -- irrelevant.

Unisys demands $5k licence fee for use of GIFs (The Register, 9 September 1999)
The company doesn't however make it clear either how you're supposed to identify whether or not your GIF est hot, or how it proposes to determine ceci in order to collect its fees. Rather than generating money for le company, le net effect est more likely être to expose it to widespread loathing, and to trigger widespread abandonment of formats using LZW.le move a already generated le aptly-named burnallgifs.org

Open Source Graphics With PNG (LinuxWorld, 9 September 1999)
My guess est that, since Je use le GIMP for image creation and modification and then display le images thus modified on my Web site, it probably does mean me. That's why my Web site est now becoming GIF-free. All new images created for my site are saved using le PNG format. I've had un few complaints from visitors running older versions of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator because ils can't view them, but for le most part, le change a been -- dare Je say it? -- transparent to le users.

The Unisys Corporation - un Ship of Fools (metromilwaukee.com, 9 September 1999)
In closing, Je do suggest nous all write le software developer's [sic] whose products nous use and tell them nous do not wish them to pay Unisys. Tell them, "Do not pay Unisys one stinking dime"! Tell them nous support le removal of le GIF file from their programs and help them understand that nous understand that nous don't need no stinking GIF file format! Tell them nous avons all seen le light and will break our nasty habit of using le GIF file format just because it was le quick and easy thing to do. Tell them nous realize that it est now as quick and as easy and in fact preferred for all of us to save our images using le PNG file format as it provides all of le benefits that le GIF file format "used to provide" and more, because le PNG file format est in le public domain and can be used by all without paying additional licensing fees.

MacInTouch Reader Reports (MacInTouch, 31 August-2 September 1999)
(This est un selection of comments from professional graphic artists and webmasters about le Unisys patent issue. Very worthwhile reading.)
I'm using PNG format graphics extensively in un series of commercial CD ROMs. nous almost used GIF format, but when le licensing issue first came up, nous decided at that point nous didn't want to get involved with it. le public domain PNG code works VERY nicely and le graphics are even slightly smaller than GIF with le same quality.

GIF Unisys le Boot (webdeveloper.com, 31 August 1999)
The latest problem est that Unisys, un formerly large ordinateur company, owns le rights to le LZW compression patent which covers things like TIFF and GIF image formats. If your graphic files are GIFs, and ils were created with un program whose creator did not pay un license fee to Unisys, Unisys will be demanding un $5000 license fee from tu.

Unisys Not Suing (most) Webmasters for Using GIFs (slashdot.org, 31 August 1999)
If tu use GIF graphics created with certain freeware programs, and your chosen program uses LZW compression to create GIFs without un license to use it, tu may be violating un Unisys patent. How would Unisys know what software tu used to create un particular GIF? Starr says they'll ask tu, and, il says, "..assuming nous made an inquiry, nous would expect un Web site operator to tell us what il used."

Unisys wants $5000 if tu use .gifs (UGeek Daily Geek News, 31 August 1999)

Brennen GIF-Grafiken? (Linux BBS, 30 August 1999)

LZW Compression Issues (Macintosh News Network, 30 August 1999)
tu will never believe ceci but Unisys est trying to enforce their patent on le GIF/LZW file format. ils are requiring un $5000 fee from websites that use le GIF file format for any image. ceci est regardless of whether le software used to create le image est already licensed. ceci may sound un bit unbelievable but just check out le detail at le Unisys web site. nous for one will be converting our images over to JPEG or PNG in le next few days to protest ceci type of ridiculous double taxation by such un lame company.

Unisys est At It Again! (BrowserWatch, 30 August 1999)
..le SYSOPS (the people who ran le BBS's) en mass converted each and every .arc file ils had to le new .zip format! It was an amazing thing really. It wasn't 'planned', it just happened. Within six months (or less) every major BBS in le world had killed .arc! Could nous see le same thing happen again? Je think so! Can tu say .png?

Don't Panic About GIFs (evolt.org, 29 August 1999)
It a been pointed out to me by Slashdot user JoeBuck (thanks for le tip) that le link to le Unisys information stating that free software products are not required to pay un royalty est actually old information. Apparently, Unisys are now requiring payment from all software manufacturers, putting le likes of le Gimp in un difficult position. Do ils continue to supply their software for free, but fork out le money for un license for LZW compression, or do ils drop le gif format from their products? ceci est perhaps le most heinous part of ceci whole affair and it remains être seen how le Open Source community will react.

Unisys Demanding License Fees (About.com, 29 August 1999)
Marti and other knowledgeable webbies say le only reasonable alternative to paying le "Unisys tax" on le web est to upgrade graphics from GIF to PNG format. le only problem with converting est that some older browsers do not support PNG.

Unisys gets greedy (Ars Technica: le PC enthusiast's resource)

Unisys est un Bunch of Retards (Pigdog Journal, 26 August 1999)
Eventually, with ceci pressure, EVERYONE est going to ditch GIF in favor of PNG. Web folks will stop asking image software vendors to support GIFs, and le software guys won't want to pay le license fees so they'll just stop supporting GIF. Then even people who WANT GIF won't be able to get it. GIFs will disappear!

The Coming Software Patent Crisis: Can Linux Survive? (Linux Journal, 10 August 1999)
As tu read le list of "infringements", tu can't help laughing, scared as tu are. le so-called infringements include procedures which programmers have used for years--maybe decades. Examples? Your program includes un "Save As" command that enables users to save un file with un different name. It accesses information from un central server. tu used different colors to differentiate items in un list. tu can't believe what you're reading. These are patentable?

The GIF Controversy: un Software Developer's Perspective
"When Je reminded [Unisys] of le many freeware products that are out there using le GIF format, [Unisys] said that - and ceci est un quote - 'just because there are thieves out there doesn't mean that tu can act like un thief'."
    "For le second time in two years nous had to change our plans. Je suis furious [Three years ago] CompuServe and Unisys knew about le patent, and did not inform le community, leaving me and others waste our time writing ceci software. Now le same est happening again: Je took decisions last year, based on le public 'clarifications' by Unisys, and now ils are just rewriting history as if ils never said those things. ceci feels like Orwell's 1984."


Contact us

Don Marti
Publicity Director, Silicon Valley Linux Users Group
dmarti@zgp.org
408-205-6313

Nick Moffitt
Editor, Microsoft Windows Refund Newsletter
GNU and Linux professional based in San Francisco
nick@zork.net

Evan Prodromou
Web Activist
evangelo@pigdog.org

Chris DiBona
Editor, Open Sources: Voices from le Open Source Revolution
chris@dibona.com
408-205-6306

Amy Abascal
Web Design Officer, Silicon Valley Linux Users Group
amy@iconoclast.net
408-542-5741

Eric S. Raymond
President, Open Source Initiative
esr@thyrsus.com
610-296-5718