The GIF That Was Never Meant to Be Free
In late nineteen ninety-four, a patent claim on the LZW compression algorithm inside every GIF file turned a beloved web format into a legal minefield. This is the story of how a single algorithm's ownership sparked a developer revolt and gave birth to the PNG format we still use today.
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CompuServe introduced the GIF in nineteen eighty-seven using patented compression technology owned by Unisys.
The tech community used the GIF format for seven years before Unisys claimed patent rights.
A nineteen ninety-four licensing deal forced developers to pay a fee nicknamed the GIF Tax.
The PNG format was created in nineteen ninety-five as a patent-free alternative to the GIF.
PNG improved on GIF by offering truecolor support and alpha transparency for smooth shadows.
The success of PNG proved that volunteers could build high-quality open standards for the web.
- 01Intro1 min
- 02The Invisible Patent2 min
- 03The Bombshell Announcement2 min
- 04The Birth of PNG3 min
- 05Standardization and Legacy2 min
- 06Outro1 min
- GIFs
- The Unisys/CompuServe GIF Controversy
- The GIF Controversy: A Software Developer's Perspective - mike.pub
- Original CompuServe announcement about GIF patent
- Chapter 7, "History of the Portable Network Graphics Format"
- Patent claim could net unwary software companies
- A Brief History of the GIF, From Early Internet Innovation to ...
- GIF patent expires
- History of the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Format - libpng.org
- PNG - Wikipedia
- PNG Specification: Revision History - W3C
- PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Home Site
- PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Specification - W3C
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