I've always heard about the dangers of law suits getting out of control, everyone suing everyone left and right, dogs and cats living together, and other obscure references to apocalyptic film plots, but this is just getting ridiculous!
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce
Subject: SCO is to sue Novell over UNIX rights
Date: 30 May 2003 01:05:04 GMT
Not content with already having issued IBM with a lawsuit, SCO is to
sue Novell for illegally placing UNIX code in Novell Netware.
According to SCO CEO Darl McBride , Novell never owned UNIX's patents
or copyrights in the first place.
In the release McBride said, "Novell continues to say that it owns the
UNIX System V patents, yet it must know that it does not. A simple
review of U.S. Patent Office records reveals that SCO owns those
patents." Further, "We believe it unlikely that Novell can demonstrate
that it has any ownership interest whatsoever in those copyrights
because we purchased these rights in August 1995 directly from IBM"
Also this morning, in SCO's 2nd quarter earning call, Jack Messman SCO
CEO said that there's no mention of copyright and patents in the
Novell law suit and that contract issues are really what the IBM law
suit is about. At the same time, though, he admitted that SCO had been
talking with IBM over UNIX IP issues and that Novell's 1990 purchase
agreement of UNIX from IBM was 'confused' on the issue of UNIX's
patents and copyrights.
Bruce Perens, director of Software in the Public Interest, a
non-profit, Open Source development organization, says, "SCO's brief
reply to Novell explicitly acknowledges that SCO owns the UNIX
copyright."
McBride said that SCO believes that the company owns the UNIX
copyrights and that all four of the people who signed the
contract-none of whom are still with Novell or SCO-thought at the time
that the intent was to transfer copyright. So, "SCO has the absolute
right to UNIX's copyright" and we're confident on how a judge will
come down."
Gary Schuster, Novell's senior VP of communications responded to this
claim by saying, "SCO will find out in court the the true force of our
vengeance - we shall wreak havoc."
--
Where there is sorrow there is holy ground.
-- Oscar Wilde, "De Profundis"
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