Re: SCO Update

["Jerry Feldman-2" <user=4@nabble.blu.org>]

 On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:09:17 +0530 
"Dinesh Shah" <[hidden email]> wrote: 

> On Nov 28, 2007 10:04 PM, Jerry Feldman <> wrote: 
> > judgement on Unix holds up, it automatically undermines SCO's claim 
> > against IBM, and therefore lifts any clouds of copyright violation from 
> > the Linux kernel, meaning that SCO can't sue you for using Linux. 
> 
> Does that mean, but Novell can sue you? 

A while back, Novell claimed that it owned the Unix copyrights ans 
waived their rights in the SCO vs. IBM case.  Part of the SCO vs. 
Novell case is that SCO accuses Novell of slander because SCO claims it 
owns the Unix IP. 

Having watched this case unfold, it was reasonably clear that when 
Novell sold the Unix licensing rights to the Santa Cruz Operation, they 
specifically did not transfer the intellectual property. Subsequently, 
the Unix division of Santa Cruz was sold to Caldera International, 
Santa Cruz Operation became Tarantella (and was acquired by Sun), and 
Caldera International renamed itself The SCO Group. Part of the SCO vs. 
Novell lawsuit involves United Linux where Caldera was a party. 
I think that SCO believed that when they bought the Unix division from 
Santa Cruz, that they believed they received the Unix IP. In the 
lawsuite, Novell was able to get the original attaorneys who 
represented them when they sold the Unix license rights to  Santa Cruz, 
and SCO did not bring in any of the original Santa Cruz attorneys who 
worked directly on the APA. 

But, to get back to what this means to the Linux community is that 
Novell is committed to open source, and by waiving the copyrights in 
the IBM case, they are effectively saying that the Linux source base is 
clean. 

Also recall that SCO sued Auto Zone and Daimler-Chrysler, and also 
claimed they owned Linux and tried to enforce a Linux license. Major 
vendors, such as IBM, HP, Red Hat and Novell provided protection to 
their clients. 

So, if Novell ends up legally owning the Unix copyrights (remember the 
SCO vs. Novell has not been fully adjudicated yet), the Linux community 
is probably on very safe grounds where if SCO through some miracle ends 
up with the copyrights the Linux community would be in some jeopardy. 
-- 
Jerry Feldman <[hidden email]> 
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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