The Devil's Doorknob BBS Capture (1996-2003)/devilsdoorknobbbscapture1996-2003.iso/WWIV.ZIP/GFILES/BBSMEM.BER

Text File | 1995-01-29 | 21KB | 447 lines

GIF...
Supreme Overlord Kaz Vorpal #1 @8202
Thu Jan 26 16:52:35 1995
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RE: About the "GIF Tax"
BY: Doug #1 @8315

2Reply 3: 1Requested0

     ...here is some more on the GIF fascism


...READ THIS!...      1/2
Carson Hanrahan (1:231/285)
Thu Dec 08 14:19:00 1994
0R: WWGTra: REPLYADDR Carson Hanrahan
0R: WWGTrt: REPLYTO 1:231/285 Carson Hanrahan
To: All

Dear SysOps:

The state of Pennsylvania has adopted new tax laws that will apply sales
and use taxes for connect time, downloads and services from online
services and BBS systems.  At least 25 other states are expected follow
suit in the months ahead. . .

Congress, working to forge a National Information Infrastructure, is
lobbied daily by powerful and well funded cable and television companies
to make interactive TV the format for the NII. . .

Proposed revisions to the U.S. copyright law under consideration right
now would make SysOps responsible forcollection of royalties and
safeguarding of copyrighted material on their systems.  In part, the
content providers are seeking to make SysOps financially liable for
copyrighted materials of any kind that find their way into electronic
distribution. . .

The news media portray BBS systems as a population of pornographers
and software thieves.  And they question whether families and kids are
"safe" online. . .

If the online services industry is to survive and thrive, we must work
together to bring power and respect to the industry and its members.
SysOps, companies and other professionals with an interest in the industry
must work together to protect our interests and promote the growth of our
industry.

Introducing the Association of Online Professionals.  As our industry
grows, it is critical that professionals such as ourselves join together
to promote our common interests and defend ourselves from unwarranted
regulation and legislation.

AOP was created by leading members of our industry to support the
individuals, online systems and companies that comprise that industry.
Now accepting memberships, we have spent many months of intensive effort
organizing, evaluating and planning how best to meet your needs.  While
we are a young organization, we have substantial support behind our
Association. And this support reaches far beyond our own borders, with
organizing efforts underway for affiliate AOP organizations in Canada,
Latin America, Europe and Asia.

The job of promoting an industry and providing services to its
professionals falls to an industry trade and professional association.
Where no single SysOp, and no single company, has the resources to do what
needs to be done on its own, and association -- with thousands of members
each contributing a little to the effort -- can.  The Association of
Online Professionals is your association, committed to these goals.  AOP
was formed to create and provide opportunities to professionals in the
online industry.  Opportunities for interaction with other online
professionals.  Opportunities for growth,  career advancement,
entrepreneurship and business referrals.

But AOP is more than this.  It's your voice in Washington and at the state
level.  It's valuable information, discounts on essential products and
services, and member support designed to make your life easier.

The Association of Online Professionals is a non-profit trade association
founded in 1994 to promote the interests of the professionals who plan,
manage and provide services to the online telecommunications industry.
Though in its first year, AOP has already gained the support of major
companies in the industry, key system operators and other interested
professionals throughout the country.

Together, we are building an industry where professionals can practice
their craft without undue interference.  An industry with room for
individuals and systems to grow and prosper.

But we can't do it without you, the professional system operator.
Regardless of the environment in which you work -- from a BBS or online
system to the Internet or a public library -- you are a system operator.
And we need your support.  We need your voice with ours when we fight for
fair legislation.  We need your ideas and efforts to define and deliver
services.  We need your financial support, through your dues, to staff and
fund these efforts.

The dues you pay -- far lower than for most professional associations --
will be returned to you in the form of a better environment in which to
manage online systems.  And it will be returned to you more directly in
the form of services, information, discounts and support not easily
available to you anywhere else.

It is our goal and our commitment to deliver to you a set of services
worth more than what you pay in dues.  More importantly, it is our goal to
help create the credibility, public support and respect that system
operators deserve.

We look forward to having you as a member of the Association of Online
Professionals.  If we may provide you with further information or answer
questions, please don't hesitate to call AOP in our headquarters in
Washington, DC.

AOP is your association.  We've made a strong start, and will
be working actively through the fall to build a set of services
that can provide real value to our SysOp members.


Sincerely,

        David P. McClure                 Carson M. Hanrahan
        Executive Director, AOP          Board of Directors, AOP
                                         Standards Committee, AOP

                 +-------------------------------------+
                 | Association of Online Professionals |
                 | 1818 Wyoming Avenue NW              |
                 | Washington, DC 20009                |
                 | Voice:   [phone]             |
                 | Fax:     [phone]             |
                 | E-mail:  [e-mail]     |
                 |          70631,266 on CIS           |
                 |          Go AOP on AOL              |
                 | BBS:     [phone]             |
                 | Fidonet: 1:133/1501                 |
                 +-------------------------------------+

To join AOP, simply complete the enclosed membership application and
return it with your check or money order for your first year's dues.
For further information, contact the AOP Director of Membership at (202)
265-1266 or [e-mail].

==========================================================================
               Application For System Operator Membership
==========================================================================

Name:      _______________________________________________________________
Company:   _______________________________________________________________
Address:   _______________________________________________________________
City:      _____________________  State:  ________  Zip:     _____________
Country:   _____________________
Phone:     ___________________________     Fax:   ________________________
E-Mail:    _______________________________________________________________

Type of Company,BBS or Online System:

     _____   Public BBS                 _____   Corporate BBS
     _____   Internet Node              _____   Online Service Forum
     _____   Public Library             _____   Information Service
     _____   E-Mail Provider            _____   Academic Institution

     Other (specify):   ______________________________________
>>> Continued to next message


--- WM v3.10/93-1181
 * Origin: Arc Light BBS/8 lines/30 cds Indpls IN 317/575-8833  (1:231/285)
OF interest Part 2
Armodin #1 @2665
Sat Dec 10 14:34:59 1994

...READ THIS!...      2/2
Carson Hanrahan (1:231/285)
Thu Dec 08 14:19:00 1994
0R: WWGTra: REPLYADDR Carson Hanrahan
0R: WWGTrt: REPLYTO 1:231/285 Carson Hanrahan
To: All

>>> Continued from previous message
For our records, please provide information regarding the online or BBS
system you manage.  If the system has multiple telephone lines or nodes,
note the first or primary contact telephone number.  For the Internet or
other addressable systems, provide the complete e-mail address.  For
content, list the type of materials carried on the system (e.g., adult-
oriented, research, general public info, etc.):

Name of System:         ______________________________________
Main Access Telephone #:______________________________________
Modem Type/Baud Rate:   ______________________________________
General Content:        ______________________________________
                        ______________________________________
                        ______________________________________

AOP has a wide variety of committees and groups in which you may choose to
become active.  Please select from the following list:

 ___ Public Policy Group               ___ SysOp Certification Committee
 ___ Industry Awards Committee         ___ Standards Committee
 ___ SysOp Section Board of Governors  ___ Industry Marketing Group
==========================================================================

 -Carson M. Hanrahan
  Master Sysop (1111.1111), Traders' Connection
  Fido 1:231/285  |  [e-mail]
  RIME ->1392     |  [e-mail]

 ■ TCON-QWK ■ "The more laws, the less justice." ■ German proverb


--- WM v3.10/93-1181
 * Origin: Arc Light BBS/8 lines/30 cds Indpls IN 317/575-8833  (1:231/285)


If interested MAil this form back to me 1 @2665, and I will route it to

1:231/285






I know that picture files of various sorts are some of the most
popular downloads here.  I have especially been gratified that
various users of this BBS create their own artwork, and choose to
upload it here.

However, a recent controversy has arisen with respect to file
formats that has led me to change the way the download areas for
picture files works here.

The problem is the GIF format.  GIF was created by the online
service CompuServe, and up until this past year CompuServe
allowed software authors to write programmes that read and wrote
GIF format pictures, wisely figuring that the wider the format
spread, the more credit it would reflect on their own products.
In doing so, they acted as any ethical company in the information
marketplace should have acted.

The villain in this story is UNISYS Corporation.  Shockingly,
UNISYS claims to -own- a patent on the Lempel-Ziv (LZW) data
compression algorithm.  It turns out that UNISYS's lawyers
discovered that the GIF format uses this algorithm.  CompuServe
chose to pay UNISYS rather than contest this far-fetched claim.
Now UNISYS is moving out to shake down shareware authors and
other people who are in the software business and who support the
GIF format.

I do not know if the courts have ruled that an algorithm or
similar sequence of software computations can be patented; or if
any legal challenges have been made to UNISYS's claims; or if so,
what the results were.  UNISYS is a publicly traded corporation;
the usual Jane Doe Shareware is not, so the moral weight of any
legal precedents from such cases which UNISYS could quote in
support of its claims is small in any case.  I am an attorney,
but I admit I am not fluent with the details of this rather
technical area of law.  It nevertheless still strikes me that
what UNISYS is doing is the equivalent of claiming to own the
Pythagorean Theorem, and then having its lawyers shake down
everybody whose house design includes a right angle.

In fairness, UNISYS has claimed that though it -could-, it will
choose to forbear from persecuting anyone who has released
software that supports GIF formats prior to 1995.  Nor does
UNISYS claim that it intends to persecute anyone who releases
pictures in the GIF format, or makes them available.

That ain't enough, asshole.  Whatever the -law- might allow you
to get away with, the information business is subject to a code
of ethics that occasionally transcends what law and profit
motives might allow.  What you are doing here is -wrong-, legal
or not.

Moreover, the use of these "intellectual property" claims to
carve yourself monopolies, seeking free lunches by claiming to
own the rules of mathematics, or shakedown potential competitors
is one more example of the excesses of the American legal system
and the economic damage it is causing.  These sorts of claims
need to be drastically curtailed if America is to remain number
one in the software development business.  Unfortunately, they
are the tools of big business, and people whose voices speak much
louder in Congress than you or I can.  Meaningful reform through
law is not likely.  Only the concerted efforts of information
users to insist on ethical standards can have much of an impact.

Obviously, I cannot do much to influence any litigation
concerning the validity of the GIF format or UNISYS's claim to
own it.  As sysop of this BBS, what I do have some control over
is the file format of uploads here.  And if UNISYS is going to
act this way, and the courts allow them to get away with these
outrageous claims, and though I must admit that MicroDot BBS is
but a gravel road on the side of the information superhighway, I
can join in with the many other people in the business and hobby
in telling UNISYS --- if that's the way you are going to act,
take your toys into the corner and play by yourself.

GIF is going obsolete, if it isn't yet, in any case.  24 bit
image graphic standards are already here, and GIF is stuck in an
8-bit, 255 colour world.  I am not going to -disallow- GIF format
images here.  But I will say:

   1. I am officially encouraging people to convert any pictures
   they want to upload here to a format other than GIF before
   uploading them, like .PCX, .BMP, .JPG, or .LBM.  There are
   many graphic software packages that read these formats and
   convert images from one to another.

   2. This especially goes for our online artists.

   3. If it helps the file size, please PKZIP or use one of the
   other standard non-LZ file compactors before uploading them.

   4. If an upgrade to the GIF standard is ever created by
   CompuServe that allows it to display 24+ bit images, those
   files will not be welcome here.

   5. Remember this before you have any business dealings with
   the UNISYS corporation.


UNISYS
                                             January 6, 1995

Unisys Clarifies Policy Regarding Patent Use in On-Line Service Offerings

The concerns, inquiries and some apparent confusion that have resulted from the
December CompuServe advisory clearly indicate that we need to clarify our
policy concerning the use of the Unisys Lev Zempel Welch (LZW) patent by
software developers for the major on-line services.

We want to reiterate earlier communications that the issue of patent licenses
is not focused on the end users of on-line networks, including the Internet.
We encourage end users to continue to take full advantage of the outstanding
benefits of a rapidly growing on-line community.

Unisys was awarded the patent in 1985.  We became aware of the increasing
interest in our LZW patent beginning in 1990 when many companies approached us
to license the patent for their hardware and software products.  The growth in
the use of compression technology was mushrooming in order to meet the demands
for transmitting increased amounts of data.  To date, more than 100 companies,
including hardware, software and on-line information services, have licensed
the Unisys LZW technology.

Two years ago, Unisys learned that the LZW method was incorporated in the GIF
specification and immediately began negotiations with CompuServe in January of
1993.  We reached agreement with CompuServe on licensing the technology in June
1994, which calls for CompuServe to pay Unisys a royalty of 1% of the average
selling price it charges for its software.  This represents approximately 11
cents for each copy sold and connected to its information service.

Under the agreement, CompuServe, at its discretion, could relicense the LZW
technology to commercial developers using the GIF specification in software
that connected directly to the CompuServe information service.

With the agreement completed on June 21, 1994, CompuServe was given six months
to implement the terms of its license.  CompuServe later asked for a one-month
extension, which we granted.

Unisys did not require CompuServe to pass on any fee to its sublicensees or end
users.  Such a decision, and the content and timing of CompuServe+s advisory,
was at their discretion.

Consistent with the entire information industry+s desire to protect
intellectual property, Unisys will expect all of the major commercial on-line
information services companies employing the LZW patent to license the
technology from Unisys at a reasonable rate.  The on-line service companies are
not required to sublicense the technology to developers producing software for
the commercial on-line services. It will be, as it is today, at the on-line
service+s discretion as to whether it charges a license fee to developers or
chooses an alternative method to account for its licensing fees payable to
Unisys.

We recognize and are concerned --  thanks in large part to the recent and very
active use of the on-line network -- that developers did not understand that
the patented technology was resident in GIF.  Taking that into account, Unisys
does not intend to pursue previous inadvertent infringement by versions of
GIF-based software products marketed prior to 1995.

Concerning all future software product development and enhancement of existing
products for accessing on-line services, Unisys expects developers of
commercial, for-profit software to secure a license from Unisys, or through the
licensed on-line service, for the use of the patented technology.  The very
reasonable terms should prove no financial barrier to the introduction of
product into the on-line network.

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

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


Commercial developers of GIF-based software for the Internet are expected to
secure a licensing agreement with Unisys for software products introduced
beginning in 1995, or enhancements of products that were introduced prior to
1995.  Again, terms should not preclude the entry by these firms into the
marketplace.

For organizations introducing World Wide Web servers and +Home Page+ offerings,
most will not be required to secure a license from Unisys.  Most organizations
acquire software from other developers to create their offerings on their
servers.  Therefore, only the software firms who sell the enabling software for
profit would be expected to secure a licensing agreement from Unisys.

Unisys understands that this issue has caused concern.  We want to reassure all
users and developers that we are strong proponents of the on-line industry.

 We+re proud that this important Unisys technology has played a role in the
introduction of innovative products and services, many of which are fueling the
explosive growth of the information superhighway.

As members of the information community we want to strike the appropriate
balance between information access and the rights of all information companies,
including the developers of software, to protect their intellectual property
rights.

Patent information:  Contact Welch Patent Licensing Department; Unisys; Mail
Stop C1SW19; P.O. Box 500, Blue Bell, PA 19424.

Or via Internet, send E-mail to [e-mail], or use a form available on
the Home Page of the Unisys Web Server (http:\\www.unisys.com) to request
follow-up information.


Media contacts: Unisys Public Relations -- Bob O+Leary     [phone]
                            or Oliver Picher [phone]
98User Rhetoric Below5:
92U7ltra2M7ega2B7oard1.:3 Only If You're Sentient...

8
79Words of the Sentient:
6
53The greater dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal,
43well meaning, but without understanding. 0--Justice Brandeis