The GIF is a symbol for what can happen when the patent system breaks. Look at the amount of code that's running on your Web server today. You've got programs that deal with HTTP, with the operating system itself, with the hardware. Out of all the software on a typical Web server, the LZW compression algorithm is just a tiny, tiny amount. And if we let every company that writes a tiny, trivial piece of software get a patent license from everyone who wants to have a Web site, then the Web becomes impossible. Nobody except for a company like Yahoo. Com or America Online, who can afford to hire three lawyers per Web developer, would be able to operate a successful Web site in an atmosphere of unrestricted software patents.
Don Marti