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Analysis of Linux Code that SCO Alleges Is In Violation Of Their Copyright and Trade Secrets. Bruce Perens <bruce@perens.com>, with help from many members of the Linux community. On August 18 at their trade show in Las Vegas, SCO showed code that they claim was copied into Linux in violation of their copyright or trade secrets. The German publisher Heise photographed two slides of SCO's code show and made them public on their news ticker. Heise publishes c't, a popular German computer magazine. These are the slides: This slide has some of the "System V" source code comments deliberately...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.Another 3,000 Workers Will Take Week Off Without Pay ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. -- After weeks of speculation that layoffs were coming, IBM made it official Monday -- another round of cuts for the region's largest private employer. The computer giant is laying off 500 employees at its Essex Junction plant and another 3,000 workers will be forced to sacrifice a week without pay next month. About 100 more workers will lose their jobs at IBM facilities elsewhere. At the Essex Junction facility, workers began getting the word shortly after the workday started....

SCO puts disputed code in the spotlight By Lisa M. Bowman CNET News.com August 18, 2003, 2:07 PM PT LAS VEGAS--SCO Group's legal battles against Linux took center stage at the company's partner and customer conference, as executives displayed the lines of disputed code and vowed to continue the fight. The Lindon, Utah-based company has rattled Linux users by suing IBM, claiming that the company inserted unauthorized code from SCO's Unix into Linux. SCO has also sent letters to corporations with Linux systems, warning them that they may be violating copyright laws by using the increasingly popular operating system. During...

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. -- Top computer hardware maker IBM, reeling from a drop-off in business, is laying off hundreds of employees to cut costs, according to media reports Monday. There was no statement from IBM early Monday. However, two Vermont television stations reported layoffs had already begun at IBM factory spanning the Winooski River in Essex Junction and Williston. WCAX-TV, citing someone who had been informed he was being laid off, reported that 700 people were losing their jobs in the latest contraction at IBM. WPTZ-TV said "hundreds" had been informed they were losing their jobs during a shift change...

IT Productivity Doesn't Have to Be an Oxymoron, but Outsourcing Isn't the Way to Achieve ItIndia, outsourcing, and the concept of IT productivity were the topics here last week, and there is so much more to be said. But first there is that computer pathogen du jour, the pesky MSBlast worm to be dealt with. This was an old story before any of us even read it this week. That darned worm, which exploits the recently discovered RPC DCOM vulnerability in Windows, has been creating a lot of trouble for no good reason. It targets TCP port 135. Why would...

The SCO(R) Group Announces Final Termination of IBM / Sequent's Contract to Use or License Dynix Software LINDON, Utah, Aug 13, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- The SCO(R) Group (SCO)(Nasdaq: SCOX) delivered final written notice yesterday to Sequent Computer Systems for termination of its UNIX System V software contract. Sequent is now owned by IBM. The Sequent (IBM) contract was terminated for improper transfer of Sequent's UNIX source code and development methods into Linux. As a result, IBM no longer has the right to use or license the Sequent UNIX product known as "Dynix/ptx." Customers may not acquire a license...

Call it a new front in the war over open source: SCO's decision to seek licensing fees from Linux users has the IT industry--and IT investors--pondering the legality of building for-profit products on Linux. While the market's initial reaction to the SCO announcement boosted its share price, it's not at all clear that SCO understands what it's up against--or the opening it's giving industry titan IBM to line up as the defender of the little guy. Start with the fact that Linux isn't as much product as it is a movement. As the emblem of open source and brainchild of...

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...

Old SCO Also Donated Code to Linux Well, knock me over with a feather. It turns out that old SCO, The Santa Cruz Operation, also donated code to Linux. There is an article dated June 12, 2000, that tells us all about their Linux distribution and their plans, which included scaling it to the enterprise, as marketroids like to call it: "While SCO may be rolling out its Linux distribution long after Red Hat and Caldera hit the market with theirs, SCO is no open source Johnny-come-lately. The company offers support services to Caldera and TurboLinux customers. In addition, the...

IBM's Affirmative Defenses: Take That! So far, Groklaw has covered a number of subjects, in relation to the SCO-IBM case. Here's a list of those that rated separate articles; the rest can be found in the SCO Archives: Patents and CopyrightsHow the 10th Circuit Defines Derivative CodeDeclaratory Judgments Discovery RulesTrade LibelTrade SecretsJudge Kimball's RecordLegal Links to information by others on relevant topics. Today, we'll cover IBM's affirmative defenses. First, what is an affirmative defense? Despite it's name, it's not just defensive in nature. It's a plaintiff's first opportunity to accuse back, as well as to raise issues that help it...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In the high-stakes legal showdown between Linux users and SCO Group Inc. SCOX.O over whether that company is owed unprecedented license fees, advocates for the free software on Thursday showed no signs of blinking at their biggest annual gathering. SCO, which claims its blueprint for Unix software is embedded illegally in versions of the free Linux operating system, is suing International Business Machines Corp. IBM.N for billions and has threatened companies that they must pay to use Linux or face litigation. But IBM and Linux distributor Red Hat Inc. RHAT.O fought back this week against Lindon,...

SCO Media Statement Re IBM Counterclaims         THURSDAY, AUGUST 07, 2003 4:17 PM - PR NewswireLINDON, Utah, Aug 07, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via Comtex/ -- We view IBM's counterclaim filing today as an effort to distract attention from its flawed Linux business model. It repeats the same unsubstantiated allegations made in Red Hat's filing earlier this week. If IBM were serious about addressing the real problems with Linux, it would offer full customer indemnification and move away from the GPL license. As the stakes continue to rise in the Linux battles, it becomes increasingly clear that the core issue is bigger than SCO (SCOX)...

IBM went on the offensive Thursday when it added a countersuit against the SCO Group to the multibillion-dollar legal battle between the companies. The countersuit alleges, among other things, that SCO Group has violated the GNU General Public License, under which it accepted Linux contributions and distributed the open-source operating system. The suit also alleges that SCO Group doesn't have the right to revoke IBM's Unix license--an allegation backed by Novell, the former owner of the Unix System V source code that sold IBM its license. IBM is also attempting to turn the tables on SCO Group by alleging that...

update IBM on Thursday filed counterclaims against the SCO Group in the continuing legal battle over the Linux operating system. Special CoverageIt's a LinuxWorld Read CNET News.com's complete coverage from the Linux gathering. In a 45-page document that it filed late Wednesday, IBM argues that because SCO distributed a version of Linux under the open-source General Public License (GPL), it can't claim that Linux software is proprietary. IBM also argues that SCO software violates four IBM patents and that the company interfered with IBM's business by saying it had terminated IBM's right to ship a Unix product, AIX. IBM is...

SCO wants $32 for each embedded Linux device By Rick Merritt EE Times August 6, 2003 (6:02 p.m. ET) SAN JOSE, Calif. The SCO Group said Tuesday (August 5) it wants $32 for each embedded system using Linux. That request stems from the Lindon, Utah company's claim that Linux versions 2.4 and above contains code that infringes on its Unix software. SCO is currently suing IBM Corp. for breech of contract for allegedly supplying some of that Unix code as part of the open source development process for Linux. After IBM, large businesses using Linux servers are SCO's first target....

A breakthrough for using electron microscopes from IBM is allowing scientists to observe the secret life of atoms. Researchers at IBM have devised a way to observe liquid chemical reactions as they occur with a transmission electron microscope. The technique has already been used to capture images showing how copper atoms bond to each other and to electrodes. Such information could eventually lead to smaller circuits or more efficient chip manufacturing processes because chip designers will have exact information on what happens when molecules meet. "They (chip designers) know the right conditions for growing copper films, but they don't know...

August 5, 2003 IBM Offshoring Audio Now on Web WashTech News Two weeks ago we reported on IBM's plans to move thousands of U.S.-based information technology jobs overseas. IBM executives and managers discussed the perceived need and rationale for accelerated offshore outsourcing during an internal summit earlier this year. The meeting was broadcast live over the Internet to the company's 2,000 human resource managers around the world. The discussion was recorded by IBM and stored on an internal company web site. An IBM employee upset about the company's plans provided a copy of the digitized audio file to WashTech. Today,...

A Passage to India Services to Follow Manufacturing Jobs Exodus PHOENIX, July 22 - Remember the "giant sucking sound" of American jobs heading south? That's what the former presidential candidate Ross Perot said would happen if NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) were implemented. The "south" Perot was talking about was Mexico. And NAFTA was (mostly) about manufacturing or "blue collar" jobs, which account for less than one-fifth of the U.S. payrolls. Ten years later, however, American "white collar" workers face a far greater threat. It is a "giant sucking sound" of American services jobs heading south... all the way...

Q&A: Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems By Erin Joyce As the open source faithful prepare to descend upon the LinuxWorld Conference in San Francisco the first week in August, Sun Microsystems (Quote, Company Info) is fine-tuning its own Linux message, and alliances... Read the rest (2 pages) here: Page 1Page 2

Q&A: Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems By Erin Joyce As the open source faithful prepare to descend upon the LinuxWorld Conference in San Francisco the first week in August, Sun Microsystems (Quote, Company Info) is fine-tuning its own Linux message, and alliances... Read the rest (2 pages) here: Page 1Page 2