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