Does someone know an good data compression method which is free? Heh

Almost anything you can code is free. you can start by looking into the non-mathematical methods such as Huffman encoding and RLE and from there move on to more complex algorithms, such as the lev-zimpel (LZ) family, artithmetic encoding and if you''re up to a challenge, to very advanced algorithms (mostly lossy), such as the JPEG compression, Ogg vorbis and MP3 - these are bound to keep you busy for a while. Of course, the MP3 compression algorithm is patented and you have to pay lots of money for it. The rest, as far I know, should be free.

Hope this opens up options for you,
Crispy

Sounds really good
I know sth about RLE and AC, I must learn Huffman...

Thank you!