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ARC(fileformat)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
ARC(fileformat)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
ARCisalosslessdatacompressionandarchivalformat
bySystemEnhancementAssociates(SEA).Itwasvery
popularduringtheearlydaysofnetworkeddialupBBS.
ThefileformatandtheprogramwerebothcalledARC.
TheARCprogrammadeobsoletetheprevioususeofa
combinationoftheSQprogramtocompressfilesandthe
[Link],bycombiningboth
compressionandarchivingfunctionsintoasingle
[Link],ARCisincapableofcompressing
[Link]
controversyinthe1980sanimportanteventindebates
overwhatwouldlaterbeknownasopenformats.
ARC
Filenameextension
.arc,.ark,.sue
Internetmediatype
application/octet
stream
UniformType
Identifier(UTI)
[Link]
Developedby
SystemEnhancement
Associates
Typeofformat
Datacompression
[Link],theInternet
ArchiveusesitsownARCformattostoremultiplewebresourcesintoasinglefile.[1][2]TheFreeArc
[Link],butusesacompletelydifferentfileformat.
Nintendousesanunrelated'ARC'formatforresources,suchasMIDIandvoicesamples,inGameCubeand
[Link].
Contents
1History
2Lawsuits
3Filenameextension
4Seealso
5References
6Externallinks
History
In1985,ThomHendersonofSystemEnhancementAssociateswroteaprogramcalledARC,[3]basedon
earlierprogramssuchasar,thatnotonlygroupedfilesintoasinglearchivefilebutalsocompressedthem
tosavediskspace,afeatureofgreatimportanceonearlypersonalcomputers,wherespacewasverylimited
[Link]
in".ARC"andweresometimescalled"arcfiles"asaresult.
[Link]
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ThesourcecodeforARCwasreleasedbySEAin1986andsubsequentlyportedtoUnixandtheAtariST
in1987byHowardChu([Link]
subsequentlyportedtootherplatformsincludingVAX/VMSandIBMSystem/[Link]'s
workwasalsothefirsttodisprovetheprevalentbeliefthatLempelZivencodedfilescouldnotbefurther
[Link],and
Howard'[Link]
laterusedinseveralothercompressionschemesbyPhilKatzandothers.
Later,PhilKatzdevelopedhisownsharewareutilities,PKARCandPKXARC,tocreatearchivefilesand
[Link],andweresignificantly
[Link],which
combinedarchivecreationandarchivefileextractioninasingleprogram,Katzdividedthesefunctions
amongtwoseparateutilities,[Link]
creationofselfextractingarchives,whichcouldunpackthemselveswithoutrequiringanexternalfile
extractionutility.
FollowingtheSystemEnhancementAssociates,[Link],SEA
withdrewfromthesharewaremarketanddevelopedARC+Plus.[4]Thisversionincludedafullscreenuser
interface,withthelastknownversionbeing7.12.[5]SEAwaseventuallysoldtoaJapanesecompanyin
1992.
TheARCformatisnolongercommononPCdesktops,butmostantivirusscannerscanstilluncompress
anyARCarchivesfoundinordertodetectviruseswithinthecompressedfiles.
Lawsuits
Inthelate1980sadisputearosebetweenSEA,makeroftheARCprogram,andPKWARE,Inc.(PhilKatz
Software).[Link]
softwareexpertwasappointedbythecourttocomparethetwoprograms,andstatedthatPKARCwasa
derivativeworkofARC,pointingoutthatcommentsinbothprogramswereoftenidentical,including
[Link],accordingtoanarticlewrittenbyJudyGettsMilwaukeeinPCWorldMagazinein
1988,[6]nosuchexpertwaseverhired.
OnAugust2,1988,theplaintiffanddefendantsannouncedasettlementofthelawsuit,whichincludeda
ConfidentialCrossLicenseAgreementunderwhichSEAlicensedPKWAREforalltheARCcompatible
programspublishedbyPKWAREduringtheperiodbeginningwiththefirstreleaseofPKXARCinlate
1985throughJuly31,1988,[Link],PKWAREpaidSEAto
obtainalicensethatallowedthedistributionofPKWARE'sARCcompatibleprogramsuntilJanuary31,
1989,afterwhichPKWAREwouldnotlicense,publishordistributeanyARCcompatibleprogramsor
[Link],PKWARElicensedSEAtouseitssourcecodefor
PKWARE'[Link]'strademark'ARC'
andtochangethenamesormarksusedwithPKWARE'[Link]
[Link],thedefendantsdidnotadmitany
faultorwrongdoing.[7]TheWisconsincourtordershoweddefendantswereorderedtopaydamagesto
plaintifffordefendants'actsofinfringingPlaintiff'scopyrights,trademark,andactsofunfairtradepractices
andunfaircompetition.[8]
[Link]
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Theleakedagreementdocumentrevealedunderthesettlementterms,thedefendantshadpaidplaintiff
$22,500forpastroyaltypayments,and$40,[Link],defendantswould
payplaintiffaroyaltyfeeof6.5%ofallrevenuereceivedforARCcompatibleprogramsonallorders
receivedaftertheeffectivedateofthisAgreement,suchrevenueincludinganylicensefeesorshareware
registrationsreceivedaftertheexpirationofthelicense,[Link],
plaintiffwouldalsopayacommissionintheamountof6.5%ofanylicensefeesreceivedbyplaintifffrom
anylicenseereferredtoplaintiffbydefendants,whetherbeforeorafterthelicenseterminationdate.[9]
Afterthelawsuit,PKWAREreleasedonelastversionofhisPKARCandPKXARCutilitiesunderthenew
names"PKPAK"and"PKUNPAK",andfromthenonconcentratedondevelopingtheseparateprograms
PKZIPandPKUNZIP,whichwerebasedonnewanddifferentfilecompressiontechniquesandarchivefile
[Link],followingtherenaming,SEAfiledalawsuitagainstPKWAREforcontempt,for
continuallyusingplaintiff'sprotectedmarkARC,byturningARCfromnounintoverbinthePKPAK
manual.[10]TheUSdistrictcourtoftheEastDistrictofWisconsinruledSEA'smotionwasdenied,andthe
defendantwasentitledtorecoverthelegalcostof$500.[11]
[Link]
saw.[12]ThesuitbySEAangeredmanysharewareuserswhoperceivedthatSEAwasa"large,faceless
corporation"andKatzwas"thelittleguy".Infact,atthetime,bothSEAandPKWAREweresmallhome
[Link],thecommunitylargelysidedwithKatz,duetothefactthatSEAwas
[Link]
[Link],anddeclaringthat
[Link]
ARCformatquicklydroppedoutofcommonuseasthepredominantcompressionformatthatPCBBSs
usedfortheirfilearchives,andafterabriefperiodofcompetingformats,theZIPformatwasadoptedasthe
predominantstandard.
Inaninterview,ThomHendersonofSEAsaidthatthemainreasonhedroppedoutofsoftware
developmentwasbecauseofhisinabilitytoemotionallycopewithwhatheclaimedwasthehatemail
campaignlaunchedagainsthimbyKatz.[13]
Filenameextension
.arc(allsystems)
.ark(adoptedbysomebulletinboardsasanamingconventionindicatingthatthefilecontained
softwareforCP/MratherthanDOS).
.sue(duetoallthelegalissues)
Seealso
Listofarchiveformats
References
[Link]
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1. ^"[Link]"([Link]
[Link].Retrieved20120717.
2. ^"InternetArchive:ARCFileFormatReference"([Link]
[Link].Retrieved20120717.
3. ^PhilKatz([Link]
4. ^Article:ARC+Plus7.12.(SoftwareReview)(oneofsevenevaluationsofdatacompressionutilityprogramsin
'SpaceSavers:DataCompressionUtilities')(Evaluation)([Link]
5. ^PackingTestforPak/PKArc/PKZip/Zoo/LHArc/Hyper/ARJ/ARC([Link]
soft/1991December/[Link])
6. ^[Link]
7. ^Jointpressrelease([Link]
8. ^SystemEnhancementAssociates,[Link],[Link],No.88C447,Judgmentfor
PlaintiffonConsent
([Link]
1.,1988)
9. ^[Link],IncCONFIDENTIALCROSSLICENSEAGREEMENT
([Link]
10. ^[Link],Inc
([Link]
11. ^UNITEDSTATESDISTRICTCOURTEASTERNDISTRICTOFWISCONSINCaseNo.88C447
([Link]
12. ^BBSDocumentary,Episode8,[1]([Link]
13.07.2012
13. ^BBS:TheDocumentary,Episode3.03Compression.
Externallinks
ARCfileformatdescription([Link]
FileExtensionARC([Link]
ARC([Link]
program
nomarch([Link]
programforLinux/Unix
TheBBSDocumentary:Compression([Link]
docid=4358667732166276191)AdocumentarythatdiscussesARChistory,inthecontextofBBS
CONTROVERSY:LAWSUITS:[Link]
([Link]
Retrievedfrom"[Link]
[Link]
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Categories: Archiveformats
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