SCO consultant: no copyright infringement in linux

Groklaw ^ | 07/14/05 | Reg Broughton

[Salo]

Davidson reports:

The project was a result of SCO's executive management refusing to believe that it was possible for Linux and much of the GNU software to have come into existance without *someone* *somewhere* having copied pieces of proprietary UNIX source code to which SCO owned the copyright. The hope was that we would find a "smoking gun" somwhere in code that was being used by Red Hat and/or the other Linux companies that would give us some leverage. (There was, at one stage, the idea that we would sell licenses to corporate customers who were using Linux as a kind of "insurance policy" in case it turned out that they were using code which infringed our copyright).

So, Darl's SCOsource scheme wasn't even original, was it? SCO *hoped* to find copyright infringement so they could make some money selling "insurance" for Linux, the email says. Sound familiar? And after all that effort, what did they find?

At the end, we had found absolutely *nothing*. ie no evidence of any copyright infringement whatsoever.

[TechJunkYard]

Looks like it's just about over now.

Well, now, hold up a sec. What this is is a hearsay report about someone else's study. Doesn't carry the same weight as a court exhibit, and it can't be examined or cross-examined. We know that the judge knows about it, and we can assume that IBM has known about it since the 9/2004 hearing.

Its main value will come into play after the trial. Once SCO's claims are thoroughly debunked, this memo will show that SCO's officers knew that their own analysis failed to show any code copying before they filed suit.

Now just imagine the possibilities. Lanhan Act violations alleged by IBM and Red Hat. Shareholders hurt by the stock scam. EV1 and everyone else who got hoodwinked into paying for a SCOSource license. Those 1500 companies which received Darl's extortion letters. The mind boggles.

[LTCJ]

And not just the source, but I recently downloaded (gasp) binaries for SuSE 9.3 directly from Novell.

Got a link for the binaries? I've been running 9.2 for about 2.5 years and want to go for 9.3 (purchased) but I sure would like to go ahead and install from the download first. I just got the LiveDVD off the net but didn't see iso's for the real deal.

Bulwark, can you tell me were you got it for $50? (Profession version?)

[LTCJ]

Profession = Professional

[LTCJ]

Dang! 2.5 years = 1.5 years

It's the drugs.

[Bulwark]

Bulwark, can you tell me were you got it for $50? (Profession version?)

I got the professional 9.3 upgrade for 51.99 from Amazon.

Even tho it's an Upgrade edition, it will work just fine if no SuSE is installed at all. I got it to put on my new AMD64 (it contains both 32/64 bit versions on DVD) and it went on without any complaint, and I just copied over my home directory from the old box. No fuss.

ISO for 9.3 is available here... ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/9.3/iso

[AFreeBird]

I got mine from one of the mirrors. The main ftp link was very slow. Also, there are two media types you can get; CD (5 images) or DVD (one 4gb image).

If you don't need x86_64 and you want all the apps, get the CD images.

The mirror I used was from Indiana University. SuSE 9.3

[adam_az]

Schaaaadenfreeeeudeeeeeee....

[N3WBI3]

I doubt that we will hear from them (other than posting some fud links). I can almost guarentee they will not address the substance of this rather damning document.

Ive already asked b2k about it and so far nothing..

[adam_az]

The Nattering Baghdad-Nay-Bob's of FR....

[flashbunny]

If any executives should be doing a perpwalk, it's the SCO bunch.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

How about Daryl joining Bernie Evers late of MCI in the caboose....

[shadowman99]

Golden Eagle and Bush2000 need to get talking points from "team 99" before they can comment.

[ShadowAce]

Belated tech ping. I arrived to this thread a tad late. :) If you've already been pinged, my apologies.

[Golden Eagle]

Never heard of Team 99 that I recall, but it sure is funny to watch you guys slurp up Jokelaw like it was the Holy Gospel.

Whether or not SCO loses this case, Linux is still a foreign-born clone of UNIX that continues to lower the value of all US-originated software. Every Communist government the world over wouldn't continue to name it their official operating system if it didn't fit into their plans perfectly.

[ShadowAce]

You continue to refer to PJ's site as "Jokelaw" yet you never are able to refute their sources. Nor (that I can recall) have you been able to refute their interpretations of events.

Please provide an example where they have either (a) sourced incorrect documents, (b) grossly misinterpreted correct documents, or (c) admit that it's a valid site for legal and SCO news.

If you can do none of the above, then your credibilty (what little remains) will disappear.

[N3WBI3]

See post 34.... good call

[N3WBI3]

n3wbi3 (post 28): "I can almost guarantee they will not address the substance of this rather damning document."

GE (post 34): "Whether or not SCO loses this case, Linux is still a foreign-born clone of UNIX that continues to lower the value of all US-originated software. Every Communist government the world over wouldn't continue to name it their official operating system if it didn't fit into their plans perfectly."

Dang I wish the whether were as predictable

[ShadowAce]

Dang I wish the whether were as predictable

..or the stock market. :)

[antiRepublicrat]

To say nothing about the SEC, and the Justice Department. They did, after all, sell a few of those licenses, which, if no infringement can be proved, constitutes blackmail, or fraud.

Given that their own people said there was no infringement before they sent out the infamous 1,500 letters, that's 1,500 federal counts of mail fraud. There wouldn't be so much of a problem if they'd done it on good faith, but this memo shows they didn't.

[antiRepublicrat]

Never heard of Team 99 that I recall, but it sure is funny to watch you guys slurp up Jokelaw like it was the Holy Gospel.

As I always tell you, if you don't like PJ's comments, just read the source documents. In this case, the PDF of the memo that shows SCO knew they had nothing on Linux before they started this.

that continues to lower the value of all US-originated software

You have a very narrow vision. You still haven't figured out what "broken window" is, have you?