<nettime> Burn All GIFs Day

[{ brad brace } <bbrace@ncal.verio.com>]

               !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
	       !!!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 <<<

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