Sorry to post again, but I thought I should clear this up. I closely
followed the whole GIF problem when it first came up a while ago. The
result is that CompuServe doesn't charge people for creating GIFs;
they are after people who write software that actually uses the GIF
compression algorithm. In other words, the people who write software
that generates GIFs, not the people who make the pictures.
GIF format has some nice advantages. Its main drawback, I think, is
its lack of colors.
-rei