Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118678589019694632.html?mod=hps_asia_at_glance_technology
Court Ruling Gives Novell Copyright in Unix System By *KEITH J. WINSTEIN* and *WILLIAM M. BULKELEY* August 11, 2007; Page A3 A federal court in Utah ruled that Novell<http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=novl>Inc., not SCO Group <http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=SCOX> Inc., is the rightful owner of the copyright in the Unix operating system. The ruling is a boon to the "open source" software movement and to Linux, the freely available computer operating system that has become an alternative to Microsoft<http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=msft>Corp.'s Windows operating system. The ruling will harm SCO's efforts to claim money from installations of Linux. The decision also will aid a Novell ally, International Business Machines <http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=IBM> Corp., which has been defending a separate suit from SCO over Linux. Novell senior vice president and general counsel Joe LaSala said, "The court's ruling has cut out the core of SCO's case and, as a result, eliminates SCO's threat to the Linux community based upon allegations of copyright infringement of Unix." He added, "We are extremely pleased with the outcome." In 2003, SCO announced that it had determined that Linux was an illegal knockoff of Unix, an operating system originally developed by AT&T in the 1970s, and which it claimed to have purchased from Novell in 1995. At that time, SCO filed its lawsuit against IBM, claiming that IBM had unfairly taken part of the Unix code and contributed it to the community of programmers who develop Linux. SCO also sought to charge $700 for every computer that ran Linux, which would have made Linux more expensive than SCO's own UnixWare operating system. Several Unix-based operating systems, including SCO's UnixWare, have been hard-hit by the availability of a free Linux. But SCO merely licensed Unix from Novell, the court ruled, in a 102-page opinion by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball. The company never purchased the copyright to Unix, the judge ruled, meaning SCO probably can't sue Linux users or IBM for copyright infringement. The judge also said Novell had the authority to force SCO to waive its claims against IBM. SCO has alleged that IBM engineers who had once worked on a joint project with a SCO predecessor improperly used knowledge they gained in later contributions to Linux. Representatives for SCO and IBM couldn't be reached to comment. *Write to *Keith J. Winstein at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and William M. Bulkeley at [EMAIL PROTECTED] RELATED ARTICLES AND BLOGS Blog Posts About This Topic • WinBeta.Org Betas - News - Reviews - Court Says Novell Owns Unix Operating ...<http://www.winbeta.org/print.php?id=9124&referer=sphere_related_content> winbeta.org • SCO Loses!!!<http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/004813.html?referer=sphere_related_content> itre.cis.upenn.edu -- -------------- WAVELET SOLUTIONS SDN BHD 632468W (www.wavelet.biz) GC-43, Ground Floor, Block C, Kelana Square, 17 Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Jaya, 47301 Selangor, Malaysia. H/P: +6012-6018838 Tel: +603-78042207 Fax: +603-78042281 ------------- CONFIDENTIAL NOTE: The information contained in this email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete the mail. Thank you.
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