Patents? I think, therefore I am sued? Patents have cost me time and money. One issue was Unisys and their patent on the LZW compression. Some companies that provided graphics software would absorb the cost of the license and pass the diluted cost on to the consumer. Other companies, who perhaps start with the word MICRO, would not assume any liability whatsoever and you knew not where you stood if you edited a GIF and saved it. Some webmasters were afraid to use the GIF format and switched to PNG, which at the time was not supported by all browsers. Personally I had to convert all my GIFs to JPEGs and PNGs. I loathe software patents.
Check out the patents on sorting: http://service1.symantec.com/legal/publishedpatents.nsf/0/B439F4EFD6DD193E88256F6D005D7708/$FILE/United%20States%20Patent%205,426,779.htm http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5926815.html http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5671406.html Algorithms I learned in school are now patented? Patents - two thumbs down. Got more than one website? http://patents1.ic.gc.ca/details?patent_number=2397304&language=EN http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware1/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=30838&ixReplies=21 This said, COPYRIGHTS are to prevent someone from stealing your actual work. They do not protect the concept, and therefore only prevent someone from blatently stealing from you. Copyrights are MUCH cheaper than patents. A watermark may be inserted into an image to discourage theft, but to my knowledge nothing is foolproof. I like COPYLEFT as well, as it encourages innovation. That's my two cents. Anyone got change? D (c) 2006 ;-) -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Does anyone have any thoughts on copyrighting software or patenting it? Thanks Greg _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> Search the archives of this list here: <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html> _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> Search the archives of this list here: <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
