OpenRAW

James, I don't think JPEG was a good example!

Forgent are suing Microsoft and others over a JPEG patent. Adobe and others pay royalties to Forgent, I believe.

Whereas Adobe have owned TIFF 6.0 for at least a decade, without charging for it. People use TIFF with confidence, (it is the one that lots of people pass images around in), and you can download the specification free from the Adobe website.

TIFF EP, ("Electronic Photography"), on the other hand, is an ISO standard, and you have to pay 150 euros to obtain the specification.

"The community as a whole" can't manage a standard. There has to be an organisation of some kind to manage it, with suitable powers, perhaps funding, etc. There are various models - ISO, W3C, I3A (which might be the place for an open Raw standard), etc. Or a company publicly granting a worldwide free licence, as is currently the case with DNG.

Whatever the best home for an open Raw standard, we surely don't need to start from scratch to develop one. DNG wasn't developed from scratch - it uses asects of ISO and (I think) W3C standards, and makes the minimum necessary changes from TIFF.

It would surely be better for such a body to start with DNG, which, after all, appears to have been working well for over 6 months! (I have been using it for about that time). Companies have started to exploit DNG - it would be a pity to disrupt them.

(Adobe didn't need to be ALLOWED a "rights granting" situation! They have just as much right to develop and publish a specification as you or I. As far as I can tell, the people who have adopted DNG so far have done so from choice, not from coercion).

Your comment is valid and I absolutely agree, in as much as we need an 'Open' and 'free', (without any license), 'Standard' that we can all be comfortable with and assured of future compatibility.

However, who develops that is irrelevant. It's no skin off my nose if it's Adobe or anyone else.

What we really need is a world without bloody licenses!

I am so sick and tired of being told what I can and can't do with all this equipment I have paid multiple thousands of dollars for!

And I'm not just talking about photography but software and computer equipment and CD/DVD Burners, and music etc.

Where the hell do these people get off, laying down the law to us who are paying the money!

As far as I'm concerned from now on if I pay - I own! Stuff them all! And let them take me to court! I'll gladly go to jail and start a revolution to do away with this daylight robbery under the guise of 'intellectual property'.

I am a Photographer but I don't expect my art, or anybodies art to be patented forever! I don't expect to be paid every time someone sees one of my pictures! I don't sell an image with an agreement that only one person can look at this picture but it can be scanned into 2 computers provided... diddley dee.. diddley dum... !!

A patent or license should not be able to last beyond 10 years at which time the art, music, software etc should become public domain.

Naturally people deserve to earn a living and a profit from their work, but greed has made this world almost too silly to live in!

Let's get back to some basic sanity and moral standards here and stop trying to wring the last possible dollar out of every damn thing that isn't really ours anyway.

By that I mean, if I am declared bankrupt tomorrow and my equipment is repossessed. I get hit by a truck and lose my eyesight and my limbs. Will I be in a position to create great photos? Is it in my hands? Is it really my doing that I am able to do this rather than being stretched out in a hospital bed?

The gifts we have in life to create, we are given so that we can create for the pleasure of others. To that end we are permitted to earn an income and live comfortably. But today, that is not enough.

Today the world is discontent with 'enough'. Today it has to be 'ALL'!

It is a sad sad world and it's time for big changes!

regards,

Patrick

So you guys ARE in bed with Adobe.

Aye????

In bed with Adobe?

Where did that come from?

Because I said, "It's no skin off my nose if it's Adobe or anyone else"?

I started my post by saying "Your comment is valid and I absolutely agree"

Did you read it?

In bed with Adobe! You have *no idea* how I feel about all these major companies holding us all to ransom! Silly person.

regards,

Patrick

When i posted that it was just the first response i was jumping to conclusions with ... i guess you posted after i loaded the page but before i posted responde. happens.

and i meant "you guys" refering to the vast conspiracy Adobe is attempting on this site. They're on the solution page for pete's sake! ... and i'm paranoid. Tis life. A corner for every shadow and a key for every lock. if that makes any sense.

James, has anyone from Adobe, or in the pay of Adobe, or under coercion from Adobe, written to this website?

I'm not, and I suspect Patrick isn't.

I post here to counter inaccurate statements that I see, and because there may be other people here who don't realise what options they already have available without having to spend any money with Adobe.

So you just go whichever way the wind blows huh? even a light gust of wind? If a pear is what's in front of you you eat the pear ... even if an apple is what you really want? Do you really want another monopoly? Cause that seems to be where you're pushing ... and Adobe seems to be gently nudging you ... not literally at all, just figuratively by picking a fight with nikon. A good fight, I agree. But Adobe is not the champion needed to win such a fight ... only to start it.