Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!ll-xn!mit-eddie!killer!wnp
From: wnp@killer.UUCP (Wolf Paul)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: PKARC
Message-ID: <3677@killer.UUCP>
Date: 14 Mar 88 01:51:30 GMT
References: <4671@ozdaltx.UUCP> <1895@uwspan.UUCP> <3322@dasys1.UUCP>
Reply-To: wnp@killer.UUCP (Wolf Paul)
Organization: The Unix(R) Connection BBS, Dallas, Tx
Lines: 23

In article <3322@dasys1.UUCP> manes@dasys1.UUCP (Steve Manes) writes:
->In article <1895@uwspan.UUCP> root@uwspan.UUCP (John Plocher) writes:
->>	SEA used PUBLIC DOMAIN code to produce ARC (compress, squeeze,
->>	etc - look at the comments in the source if you doubt)
->
->Actually, as I understand it, the Lempel-Ziv compression algorithm used by
->both S.E.A. ARC and PKARC is copyright AT&T so an argument could be made
->that they both claim-jumped.

Well, SEA and PKARC use the Lempel-Ziv implementation from the UNIX compress
program, but that is a public domain UNIX utility, not one supplied by
AT&T. The standard file compression utility supplied by AT&T with System V is
pack, which is based on Huffman encoding.

I understand that the Lempel-Ziv algorithm is also public domain.

The only thing SEA could claim a copyright or some other protection for is
the specific file format of an *.arc file -- i.e. the header structure, etc.,
but I believe that this is too minimal to be considered copyrightable.
-- 
Wolf N. Paul * 3387 Sam Rayburn Run * Carrollton TX 75007 * (214) 306-9101
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                One Austrian's Opinion:  Waldheim must go!