SCO Unix Intellectual Property Pedigree Chart

[gaf at blu.org (Jerry Feldman)]

On Fri, 02 May 2003 17:44:15 -0400
John Abreau <jabr at abreau.net> wrote:

> I think there won't be a SCO/Caldera in the long run. 
> 
> Also, it seems to me that the IP rights SCO is trying to lay claim to 
> are probably the same ones that the court denied the previous owners 
> of the AT&T source in the lawsuit against BSD a decade ago. 
> 
> I'd actually describe SCO's current behavior as sociopathic and
> suicidal, and I think any reasonable person would see their behavior
> as harmful to SCO's shareholder value. Perhaps SCO shareholders could
> sue SCO over this. 
You might be correct. But, I don't think they would launch the suit
without some indication of merit. IBM and their developers could
possibly have polluted some of the Linux kernel code from Unix in their
AIX base. I certainly see some parallels to the AT&T BSDI suit. 
There are two cases:
1. copyright violation where some Unix code (code licensed by SCO to
IBM) somehow made it into the Linux kernel. 

2. Unix technology covered by patents owned by SCO that somehow crept
into the Linux kernel. 

In the past, companies used to keep technology groups separate. Digital,
for instance would not bring a Unix developer into the VMS group to
protect itself the possibility of a suit. I once worked on the
development of an assembler for the Alpha chip to replaced the MIPS
Alpha assembler. Before we were allowed to proceed we have to meet  with
an attorney. Only one of us was close to the MIPS code. 
-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org PGP key id:C5061EA9
PGP Key fingerprint:053C 73EC 3AC1 5C44 3E14 9245 FB00 3ED5 C506 1EA9
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