It seems SCO would like to imply some violation of rights regarding the API by claiming copyright on the header file source code. They also seem to be trying to jumble up the definitions of API and ABI and using the terms virtually interchangeably.
Now I don't think the API proper can be copyrighted, otherwise stuff like WINE would not be legal. However, the thing is that there are really not the many different ways to rewrite a header files so they would probably like to argue that minor differences in source code do not change its essence and would still constitute some sort of violation.
Of course, programmers understand that header files are just declarations and don't really contain much of substance, but what is obvious to a programmer is not necessarily so to a jury of non-technical people.
Even supposedly technically competent patent reviewers granted the ridiculous XOR cursor redraw mechanism a patent, and big companies like Apple are meekly paying the royalties for that today. SCO are counting on similar [mis]judgements on these issues they are raising.
Paolo Alexis Falcone wrote:
On Thu, 2004-07-22 at 22:58, Andy Sy wrote:
From http://sco.com/5reasons/
Here's a particularly interesting assertion (#5):
"While some application programming interfaces ("API Code") have been made available over the years through POSIX and other open standards, the UNIXÂ ABI Code has only been made available under copyright restrictions. AT&T made these binary interfaces available in order to support application development to UNIXÂ operating systems and to assist UNIXÂ licensees in the development process. The UNIXÂ ABIs were never authorized for unrestricted use or distribution under the GPL in LinuxÂ. As the copyright holder, SCO has never granted such permission. Nevertheless, many of the ABIs contained in LinuxÂ, and improperly distributed under the GPL, are direct copies of our UNIXÂ copyrighted software code."
It's a rehash of their purported assertion - that enabling Linux to run
Unixware binaries is illegal - blown out of proportion. --
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