GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!

[strredwolf]

Summary Judgements just came in from SCO v. Novell.  This is the abbreviated version:

Novel owns UNIX and UnixWare copyrights, can boss SCO around, and it wants it's licensing fees from the Microsoft and Sun licenses now.

Because of SCO's financial situation, this means SCO is fucked.

GAME OVER MAN!  GAME OVER!

Comments

[dashutri.livejournal.com]

Buh?

[strredwolf.livejournal.com]

http://www.groklaw.net

[bibliophage.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, there's still the chance of some appeals (certainty?)

Until those are exhausted, no money will change hands.

[strredwolf.livejournal.com]

Remember, SCO in it's SEC filing said that it didn't have enough cash to go through all of a trial with Novell, let alone a trial afterwards with IBM. SCO will be bankrupt if they ever get an appeal hearing.

[felixnminerva.livejournal.com]

I'm not much into computer company business... so why's this important and who's SCO?

[strredwolf.livejournal.com]

Okay, let me see if I can distill it right.

Santa Cruz Operations had licenced the old UNIX SysV OS and Unixware from Novell (who has the copyright). No copyright changed hands, and the license said Novell could order Santa Cruz Operations around.

Santa Cruz then gets bought by Caldera (who did their own Linux distro for a while plus OpenDOS). Once merged, they form simply "SCO" and continue being a Linux company with the old license from Novell for a while... but not getting any money in.

Then someone in SCO had a "moment of genious" and said "LET'S SUE OUR WAY TO PROFITS!"

So, SCO stopped being a Linux company, yanked it's distro, and filed a lawsuit against the biggest pusher of Linux software: IBM. SCO contended that IBM violated the old UNIX copyright when it gave portions of it to Linux's kernel.

That got Novell's attention. Novell came in and said "You drop this silliness right now." SCO came back and said "No, we own Unix, you don't! NYAH!"

So Novell sued SCO for breach of contract. Meanwhile IBM's been carefully cooperating while SCO tries to find something to sue over, changing it's story time and time again for a few years. It also sells Unixware licenses to Microsoft and Sun Microsystems (which is important).

Novell and SCO duke it out in pretrial hearings for these years. SCO gives third-party information that can't really be admitted in trial while Novell brings the lawyers on their side who wrote up the license as well as all the licenses and revisions themselves. In other words, Novell brought a dumptruck of truth while SCO was trying to pull a fast one.

Come yesterday, the judge ruled on a pre-trial summary judgement motion, and the most important by far: Novell owns UNIX and Unixware, and thus the copyright. SCO only has the license, and no legal standing to claim that it owns Linux. The danger of Linux going away is passed.

Thus, Novell can order SCO to drop the case against IBM (as well as others including RedHat). It can also demand the license fees from the sale of Unixware to Microsoft and Sun Microsystems...

...something SCO doesn't have now since they've spent it. SCO basically doesn't have any money now, according to it's SEC filing this year.

Darrell McBride basically no longer has a job now.

[bibliophage.livejournal.com]

From reading through groklaw, it looks like what Novell can do is demand the _royalties_ on the licenses sold to Sun and Microsoft. What those royalties would be wasn't clarified.

[felixnminerva.livejournal.com]

So when SCO files Chapter 13, it won't affect the rest of us computer users, right?

[strredwolf.livejournal.com]

Correct. If it went the other way (SCO got the copyrights) then everything that runs Linux would be in trouble -- although IBM looks like it has a strong case against SCO's "copyright" claims anyway.