Re: [Bug-gnupedia]Submissions in Word Format

[Mike Warren]

Tom Chance <address@hidden> writes:

> M$ cannot sue us for taking people's Word files, converting their
> contents into plain text, and discarding the Word files.

They can prevent people from writing converters for Word files,
including us. They've done this already with ASF:

  http://www.advogato.com/article/101.html

> They have no rights over the content.

True. Sort of: they can prevent you from legally converting the
content to anything else...

> Just as we can make a text file with Notepad (not free) and send in
> a text file (totally free) we can let people make something with M$
> Word (not free) and we can convert it into a text file (totally
> free).

And that is what people who want to write articles with Word should
do.

> However Unysis can sue us for using GIFs and not paying them, or
> giving them royalties, for the use. So we cannot use GIFs.

Then why not just use GIFs until Unisys finds out and decides to sue
us, as you suggest for Word? After all, Unisys has no claim over the
content of the GIF...

The real reason that GIFs are not used is because it is illegal to
produce a free encoder or decoder for GIF files; the format is
non-free. Similarly, Microsoft claims ownership over their file
formats.

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