Re: Burn All GIFs Day (fwd)

[Angela Gunn <agunn@dorsai.org>]

[: hacktivism :]

Hi BroncBuster -- thanks. Though the W3 has much to offer still (would you
rather Microsoft was the loudest voice in the standards debate? officially
in addition to realistically, I mean?), they're beating a skeletal horse re
PNG. And JPG isn't the answer for all images; if it's continuous-tone
images you need, absolutely JPG is superior, but your average icon is going
to be a teensy bit more efficiently compressed by our friend the GIF. 
  

What I *really* want to know is how effectively the W3C can "enforce" the
Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P), and how limited/fragile/vulnerable
the standard really is. Any hactivists taken a whack at this thing yet?
(BroncB, is 2600 on the case? Has there been a writeup yet? If so, please
point me in the right direction to read it; I'm afraid I haven't been
keeping up with the zine since I left NYC. Most truly my bad.)
  

What Unisys *can* do is enforce their license arrangement. Usurious terms
are indeed unrealistic; collecting a moderate licensing fee from developers
is OTOH quite manageable, and they'd be fools to risk losing their patent
rights through non-enforcement. However, does anyone know if they're
plowing *any* of that money back into, oh, improving the algorithm? Or is
that too much to hope for...?
  

Curious, and interested to hear what knowledgeable folk make of P3P --
AG.
 

At 12:14 AM 11/4/99 -0500, you wrote:
>[: hacktivism :]
>
>
>I most strongly agree here. This BurnGif crap is nothing more then a way
>for MIT to advance their own image compression standard that they got the
>W3 to approve. Who is the W3 anymore anyways? They don't really have any
>clout any longer on the net.
>
>.GIFs have been around from the start of graphics on the net, and until
>Jpegs can cut their sizes down (or everyone gets a T-1 to their house),
>.GIFs will continue to be used. 
>
>Unisys is just tooting their own horn, like they have done several times
>in the part regarding their patent on .GIFs. They have never done anything
>to stop their use because they know its been such an open standard for so
>long, there is nothing realisticly they could do.
>
>I also have to say, stop spreading this FUD to the list. This is about
>Hacktivism (defination withstanding), not a place to talk about how the
>government is out to get everyone, or a place to post every wacky cause
>that comes down the pipe.
>
>_THINK_ about what you post before you do.
>
>regards,
>   Bronc Buster
>  bronc@2600.com
>
>
>On Wed, 3 Nov 1999, Angela Gunn wrote:
>
>> [: hacktivism :]
>> 
>> Oh, crikey.
>>   
>> 
>> Nevermind the obvious FUD (get the facts at
>> http://slashdot.org/articles/99/08/31/0143246.shtml: Unisys is gunning for
>> software companies that make freeware that uses but doesn't license LZW
>> compression) -- how exactly do you burn a GIF? You're going to what, print
>> it out? Then you'll be burning a piece of paper, big deal. You're going to
>> burn a floppy? Then you're burning some plastic, big stinky deal. Perhaps
>> you'll consider tattooing a GIF on your ass before immolation, at which
>> point you might get some truly interesting media coverage. (Since the 5th
>> is also Guy Fawkes Day, you might consider stencilling your GIFs on the
>> side of a firework or two, but I like the other solution better.)
>>   
>> 
>> There is, of course, an interesting underlying issue here -- the
>> open-source movement and corporate control over patentable material such as
>> algorithms. There's also a question of what will become of the GIMP, an
>> interesting product all by itself. There is not, however, a threat to
>> non-profits of any stripe; no one wants $5000 from you. If you're
>> concerned, check with the company that created the software package you
>> used to create your site's GIFs; if they're licensed, of if you're using
>> freeware with an unlicensed version of LZW *but* your site is non-profit,
>> you're jake.
>>   
>> 
>> But spreading FUD is right out. Damn, two of these hysterical outbursts in
>> two days; is it my imagination or has this formerly-engaging list been
>> getting downright stupid? Or is the world such a happy place now that we
>> can frolic about with harebrained protests on non-issues? I could've
>> *sworn* there was still a dictatorship in Burma, oppression in Mexico, and
>> brutal prison conditions in the USA, but I guess that was a lie put forth
>> by Unisys and the US Postal Service to throw us off the scent...
>>   
>> 
>> Old enough to know how to pick her battles, but apparently still young
>> enough to be annoyed by those who don't --
>> AG.
>>   
>> 
>> At 05:45 PM 11/3/99 -0800, you wrote:
>> >[: hacktivism :]
>> >
>> >
>> >               !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>> >	       !!!THE TIME HAS COME TO BURN ALL GIFS!!!
>> >               !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>> >
>> >	         Burn All GIFs Day -- November 5, 1999
>> >		       http://burnallgifs.org/
>> >
>> >THE SCOOP:
>> >
>> >Unisys Corporation, owner of the patent for GIF technology, is asking
>> >for a FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR license fee from Web authors who use GIF
>> >files on their sites. We think this is outrageous. We want to send a
>> >message to Unisys and other big companies that the Internet can't be
>> >held hostage by proprietary standards and file formats. We're going to
>> >hold a LIVE PROTEST on November 5th at the Bay Area headquarters for
>> >Unisys raise awareness about creative freedom on the Web and to help
>> >people become aware of open options to closed-minded corporate
>> >computing.
>> >
>> >WHO WE ARE:
>> >
>> >Burn All GIFs is a project of the League for Programming Freedom
>> >(http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/). We're a group of Web makers and software
>> >creators who are concerned about everyone's right to make and use
>> >software without having to walk through the minefield of patent
>> >litigation. We want to end the burden of the LZW patent (the
>> >underlying technology for GIF files) by moving the Web away from GIF
>> >to other, more open standards (like JPEG and PNG).
>> >
>> >WHAT WE'RE DOING:
>> >
>> >As a group, we're not concentrating on convincing Unisys to drop its
>> >ridiculous licensing schemes for GIF. This hasn't worked in the past,
>> >and we don't expect it to work now. Instead, we want to make GIF files
>> >IRRELEVANT for modern life on the Web. To this purpose, we're:
>> >
>> >   * Encouraging the use of the Portable Network Graphics format (PNG
>> >     or "ping"), the W3 standard for Web graphics
>> >     (http://www.w3.org/Graphics/PNG/) as an alternative to GIF
>> >
>> >   * Writing and distributing software for converting GIF files to
>> >     PNG, including web2png, a utility that can convert an entire Web
>> >     site from GIF to PNG in minutes
>> >
>> >   * Spreading the word about why GIF is lame to the media, on the
>> >     Web, and in live protests
>> >
>> >WHAT YOU CAN DO:
>> >
>> >   * Come to Burn All GIFs Day! (directions below) It's going to be a
>> >     good time with interesting and creative people using the power of
>> >     a crazy scheme to draw attention to an important issue.
>> >
>> >   * Look into PNG as an alternative to GIF for your Web site. It's
>> >     supported by both major browsers, it's an excellent image format,
>> >     and it's just full of all kinds of good karma. With the tools you
>> >     can find at http://burnallgifs.org/ and elsewhere, it's real easy
>> >     to clean your Web site of GIF technology.
>> >
>> >   * Fly the "Burn All GIFs" banner on your site, to show that you're
>> >     not using GIFs any more.
>> >
>> >   * There's more! See http://burnallgifs.org/ for more ways to get
>> >     involved.
>> >
>> >THE EVENT:
>> >
>> >In the San Francisco Bay Area, we'll be converging on the Brisbane
>> >offices of Unisys Corporation at 5PM on November 5th, 1999.  The
>> >meeting point will be on the public trail facing Pier 5 of the
>> >Brisbane Marina, near Unisys. Directions to the site can be found at:
>> >
>> >      http://burnallgifs.org/brisbane/
>> >
>> >[Other regional groups will also be meeting at their regional Unisys
>> >headquarters; see the burnallgifs.org site for details.] We'll have
>> >GIF conversion software and other cool stuff to pass out to
>> >people. Bring your least favorite GIF file on floppy or paper to
>> >symbolically "burn" at the home of GIF.
>> >
>> >MORE INFORMATION:
>> >
>> >More information about the GIF controversy, Burn All GIFs, links to
>> >recent media articles about GIF, patent problems, and software freedom
>> >can be found at this URL:
>> >
>> >      http://burnallgifs.org/
>> >
>> >               !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>> >	       !!!STAND UP FOR THE WEB -- BURN A GIF!!!
>> >               !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >_________________________________________________________________
>> >
>> >
>> >The_12hr-ISBN-JPEG_Project                     since 1994 <<<
>> >
>> >>     episodic          ftp://ftp.wco.com/pub/users/bbrace <
>> >>    eccentric          ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/bb/bbrace <
>> >>   continuous         ftp://ftp.teleport.com/users/bbrace <
>> >>  hypermodern        ftp://ftp.rdrop.com/pub/users/bbrace <
>> >> imagery online   ftp://ftp.pacifier.com/pub/users/bbrace <
>> >
>> >Usenet News://alt.binaries.pictures.12hr/ a.b.p.fine-art.misc
>> >Mailing-list: listserv@netcom.com / subscribe 12hr-isbn-jpeg
>> >Reverse Solidus: http://www.teleport.com/~bbrace/bbrace.html
>> >
>> >{ brad brace }  <<<< bbrace@netcom.com >>>>  ~finger for pgp
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >[: hacktivism :]
>> >[: for unsubscribe instructions or list info consult the list FAQ :]
>> >[: http://hacktivism.tao.ca/ :]
>> >
>> >
>> 
>> [: hacktivism :]
>> [: for unsubscribe instructions or list info consult the list FAQ :]
>> [: http://hacktivism.tao.ca/ :]
>> 
>
>
>[: hacktivism :]
>[: for unsubscribe instructions or list info consult the list FAQ :]
>[: http://hacktivism.tao.ca/ :]
>
>

[: hacktivism :]
[: for unsubscribe instructions or list info consult the list FAQ :]
[: http://hacktivism.tao.ca/ :]