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Invoice is in the Mail, Says SCO
Computer Business Review Online ^
| 11/08/2003
| Gavin Clarke
Posted on 08/11/2003 1:09:45 PM PDT by amigatec
Invoice is in the Mail, Says SCO
By Gavin Clarke
SCO Group Inc is preparing to invoice customers running or developing with Linux, while broadening its copyright net to include manufacturers of embedded systems.
The company told ComputerWire it would begin sending out invoices to organizations using Linux as a step towards enforcing SCO's claim that UnixWare System V code is used in Linux.
Invoices will be dispatched in the "next weeks or months" a company spokesperson confirmed.
Those being billed will include 1,500 end-users who were earlier this year informed by SCO in writing they should seek legal advice as running Linux violated the company's copyright. Customers running Linux who were not on SCO's original mailing list will also be targeted.
SCO last week announced customers would be charged $699 per server running Linux and $199 for a client.
It has also emerged OEMs developing devices running embedded Linux will be among those charged by SCO, making them so far the first set of industry representatives to be targeted.
OEMs will be asked to pay $32 per device running an embedded Linux operating system. SCO's spokesperson said it made more sense to charge OEMs rather than end users as customers running PDAs or cell phones are unaware their devices run Linux.
That means SCO will potentially chase companies such as Sharp and Tivo, whose respective Zaurus and set-top-box devices, both run Linux.
SCO's price is likely to place a hefty burden on embedded device manufactures, spanning a range of markets but especially in the consumer space, whose margins are extremely tight and whose products must be priced competitively.
Inder Singh, chairman and president of the Embedded Linux Consortium, said prices range between $1 to $100 for an embedded operating system, with low-priced consumer devices at the low end of the scale.
"One reason Linux is used is because it's inexpensive. SCO's action would defeat that objective," Singh said.
Commenting on the development, a spokesperson for Tivo would not say what the company's course of action will be until it received a SCO invoice. The company, though, seems relatively unconcerned by SCO's actions. "From observing what's a priority and what's talked about at Tivo, this has not been one of those things," he said.
Singh called SCO's decision to charge OEMs "attempted extortion, based on fear, uncertainty and doubt" as the company has not disclosed which code as at fault. He noted embedded Linux was also unlikely to contain any UnixWare System V code, as this is used on large systems.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Technical; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: darlmcbride; ibm; linux; sco
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And the supidity goes on/
1
posted on
08/11/2003 1:09:45 PM PDT
by
amigatec
To: rdb3; Nick Danger
Get ready!! Time to pay up!!
How much more can SCO do?
2
posted on
08/11/2003 1:11:18 PM PDT
by
amigatec
(There are no significant bugs in our software... Maybe you're not using it properly.- Bill Gates)
To: amigatec
Until they can prove their case, the invoices are fraud. They are going to get hundreds of cases filed against them, and some state AGs will get in the game at that point.
3
posted on
08/11/2003 1:12:12 PM PDT
by
eno_
(Freedom Lite - it's almost worth defending)
To: amigatec
Center finger is in the air, say Linux users.
4
posted on
08/11/2003 1:16:09 PM PDT
by
Petronski
(I'm not always cranky.)
To: amigatec
I believe this tactic was pioneered by the Montana Freemen, who did not prosper thereby.
5
posted on
08/11/2003 1:16:53 PM PDT
by
Grut
To: John Robinson; B Knotts; stainlessbanner; TechJunkYard; ShadowAce; Knitebane; AppyPappy; jae471; ...
The Penguin Ping.
Wanna be Penguified? Just holla!
Got root?
6
posted on
08/11/2003 1:19:14 PM PDT
by
rdb3
(I'm not a complete idiot. Several parts are missing.)
To: eno_
They are going to get hundreds of cases filed against them Yep. The thing is, they don't care. SCO was going to implode anyway; these extortion tactics give them a (very tiny) chance of survival. They're in roughly the same situation as Kim Jong Il, and have chosen a similar strategy.
To: amigatec
Let's see, SCO hasn't proved anything. Hasn't shown any infringing code. But people are supposed to pay up.
I bet the accussed do, don't you. The ones receiving the invoices probably don't even know what SCO is talking about.
Looks like the IBM counter suit has hit home. Try to get the money before you have to prove anything.
It also looks like the company SCO bought, Caldera, just might be a source for the infringing code, if there is any such thing. So should SCO sue themselves now?
8
posted on
08/11/2003 1:21:14 PM PDT
by
snooker
Comment #9 Removed by Moderator
Comment #10 Removed by Moderator
To: eno_
Until they can prove their case, the invoices are fraud. They are going to get hundreds of cases filed against them, and some state AGs will get in the game at that point. That's what I was thinking, as well. Until now, they were just engaging in dueling press releases. However, if they start sending out invoices demanding payment, that's fraud.
To: justlurking
if they start sending out invoices demanding payment, that's fraud. Are we taking bets yet on whether they will report the invoiced shipments as revenue on their next 10-Q? How about if they try to factor the "receivables"?
12
posted on
08/11/2003 1:39:03 PM PDT
by
Nick Danger
(The views expressed may not actually be views)
To: eno_
Bingo.
I've been waiting for somebody to issue arrest warrants for fraud and extortion for these a--holes for weeks now.
To: amigatec
Congress needs to pull the rug out from under parasitic corporations whose only purpose is to file lawsuits and exploit legal loopholes to suck cash out of legitimate businesses.
Lawyers who do this sort of thing should be subject to criminal prosecution, a la the RICO statutes.
14
posted on
08/11/2003 1:48:33 PM PDT
by
hayfried
To: eno_
If I were SCO, I wouldn't be mailing those invoices. The penalties for mail fraud are pretty steep.
15
posted on
08/11/2003 1:49:46 PM PDT
by
MalcolmS
To: amigatec
To: eno_
I'm with you--this in combination with the other thread on SCO today makes me think invoicing is a criminal act. At the very least for SCO. Since Sun and Microsoft seem to be involved, also, how about RICO?
17
posted on
08/11/2003 2:00:32 PM PDT
by
jammer
(Apologies to Ayn Rand and John Galt)
To: hayfried
Good post--wish I had read yours before I posted above.
18
posted on
08/11/2003 2:01:38 PM PDT
by
jammer
(Apologies to Ayn Rand and John Galt)
To: rdb3
set me up for pings dude!
19
posted on
08/11/2003 2:11:56 PM PDT
by
zeugma
(Hate pop-up ads? Here's the fix: http://www.mozilla.org/ Now Version 1.4!)
To: amigatec
I'll tell them what I told a radiologist who once tried to bill me for services I did not order: "I won't pay. Cease and desist or I'll see you in court". Yes, they continued to send me a bill, but I never paid the bogus medical bill. I lodged a formal complaint against the billing firm, and eventually they realized it would cost them more than it was worth to pursue the claim.
20
posted on
08/11/2003 2:12:57 PM PDT
by
dandelion
(We got r00t, yes we do! We got r00t, how 'bout YOU?)
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