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Re: Unisys patent

Elfyn McBratney wrote: 
I posted a reply to this earlier but it's just not my day for "doing things
right". I shouldn't publicise my bad language skills, should I?! :-)

  Please don't do this. From tomorrow the Unisys LZW patent will be defunct in
  the US, and again a day later in Canada. That still leaves serveral countries
  in Europe and Japan who have to wait a year (18/20 June 2004 IIRC) before
  being able to use it.

  Putting this or any other LZW-aware software on the Cygwin mirror system is a
  seriously bad idea. We have mirror's in most if not all of the above
  countries and if they distribute LZW-aware software they're in violation of
  their countries patent laws. Same for Joe Hacker who downloads it, too.


Sorry, I honestly didn't realize that any other country was STUPID enough to allow a patent on this blindingly obvious algorithm which had TONS of prior art at the time it was submitted. (Have you looked at it? It's like, 40 lines of fairly simple code)

Silly me. It seems every country's patent office is staffed by drooling imbeciles.

Oh well -- less work for me.

--
Chuck

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