It can't. Derek is completely mistaken on that score. Only software that encodes or decodes GIF has any problem, and even the case for decoders is pretty thin. So the patent itself is no reason to forgo use of GIF in web sites. But it does make a political statement to avoid their use, in that in the long run, avoiding GIFs on web pages may in time reduce their use to such low levels that free software developers might be able to produce more non-patent-encumbered software for producing images. And PNG is a superior format anyway (and I'm not just saying that because I'm one of its developers--I was on the committee that created GIF too). 0

It can't. Derek is completely mistaken on that score. Only software that encodes or decodes GIF has any problem, and even the case for decoders is pretty thin. So the patent itself is no reason to forgo use of GIF in web sites. But it does make a political statement to avoid their use, in that in the long run, avoiding GIFs on web pages may in time reduce their use to such low levels that free software developers might be able to produce more non-patent-encumbered software for producing images. And PNG is a superior format anyway (and I'm not just saying that because I'm one of its developers--I was on the committee that created GIF too).