Stewart Rules: Novell Wins! CASE CLOSED!

CASE CLOSED!

Jury Decides for Red Hat, Novell in Software Patent Lawsuit

SCO says judge should order Novell to transfer Unix copyrights

On SCO, Linux and What Will Happen When the exFAT Lady Sings

A further note about SCO v. Novell

I see that the jury’s decision produced the expected vacuous cheering from the groklaw hordes - but the groklaw people have it backwards: this decision was bad news for Linux and open source advocates.

The reason for this is that SCO’s case against IBM is based on the contracts, not the copyrights - the whole copyright thing came up because SCO’s lawyers tried to establish a a market value for their claims by having SCO demand licensing fees for the intellectual property they claim IBM let loose.

SCO Still Manages to Get Back at Novell

Jury Sides With Novell in Long-running SCO Battle

Jury says Novell owns Unix copyrights

A federal jury Tuesday found that Novell Inc., and not The SCO Group, owns the copyrights to the Unix computer operating systems used by many businesses.

The decision ends a long-running legal battle between the two companies and between Lindon-based SCO and IBM. It also likely means the end of SCO, which already is teetering in bankruptcy court.

Lawyers for SCO had contended Novell owed it millions of dollars for lost sales revenue and that it was due punitive damages on top of that. SCO claimed it lost as much as $215 million as a result of Novell's actions, which stretch back to 2003.

SCO Novell Jury Decision Pending

The fate of the long-running battle between the SCO Group and Novell over the copyright ownership of Unix is in the hands of a Utah federal jury, which has been deliberating over the issues in the case.

A verdict in favor of Novell could seal the fate of the SCO Group, which sued Novell in 2004. Since then, the case has had several twists and turns. Today there is little left of SCO beyond its hope that a victory in the case will produce a large monetary judgment. A loss could threaten its existence.

Novell to present case in trial against SCO Group

Now it's Novell Inc.'s turn.

After listening to witness after witness for The SCO Group, a federal court jury may begin hearing testimony as early as today from witnesses for Novell. They will address which company owns the copyrights to the Unix operating system.

Because the jury may side with SCO on that question, Novell's task also is to try to limit the damages it could potentially pay for interfering with SCO's ownership rights. Lindon-based SCO is trying to convince the jury that interference cost it tens of millions of dollars.

The case is being followed intensely in some financial circles because of the recent offer by Elliott Associates to buy Novell in a $2 billion deal. But potentially a jury verdict in favor of SCO also could restart its program to offer licenses to commercial users of the rival Linux computer operating system that the SCO says makes use of Unix's copyrighted code.

SCO vs. Linux: The jury has been informed

SCO vs. Linux: The story so far

Six years ago the open source movement faced the possibility that the long term future of Linux might be seriously threatened when the SCO Group decided to sue IBM over alleged Linux kernel copyright infringement

Note: Skip to the end of this article for a list of stories[1] The H has published about the SCO Group court cases

Back in 2003, on March the 6th, the SCO Group filed a $1 billion US suit (later increased to $5 billion) against IBM for allegedly “devaluing” the SCO Group version of the Unix operating system. SCO alleged that IBM had without authorisation incorporated copyright code from SCO Unix into Linux kernel code.

Those in the free and open source movement of course saw this as an attack on open source and a potential body blow for Linux. IBM joined by Red Hat, filed a counter suit against the SCO Group, while the SCO Group sent letters to various companies warning them of copyright violations and attempted to extract license fees from Linux users. By these actions and through various connected statements the SCO Group implied that it owned the copyrights to the original AT & T UNIX code and its derivatives, having acquired these rights through a 1995 Asset Purchase Agreement from Novell. (The original agreement was between Novell and the Santa Cruz Operation. In 2000 Caldera acquired UnixWare from the Santa Cruz Operation, later Caldera changed its name to the SCO Group.)

Ownership of Unix Copyrights in Hands of Utah Jury

A Salt Lake City jury has started deliberations in a case pitting two software companies that each claim ownership of the Unix computer operating systems used by large corporations.

The SCO Group, of Lindon, Utah, filed a lawsuit in 2004 asserting Waltham, Mass.-based Novell Inc. sold it copyrights when it allowed SCO to take over the business of servicing Unix technology in 1995. Novell says it sold the servicing rights, not the copyrights.

SCO is seeking damages of up to $215 million in U.S. District Court.

SCO looks to make a comeback

SCO vs. Linux: SCO trustee fires SCO boss Darl McBride

Edward Cahn, the SCO Group's Chapter 11 trustee[1] appointed by the bankruptcy court, on Friday dismissed former SCO boss Darl McBride. This is according to an SCO press release[2], currently available as an SEC document only, and which is not listed on the company's own Press Releases[3] page.

According to the press release, McBride had his employment terminated on 16th October, although a compulsory statement[4] to the US Securities and Exchange Commission gives the date of McBride's dismissal as 14th October. Both sources cite the elimination of the positions of President and CEO as the reason for McBride's dismissal. The reports note that the remaining management team will continue to work closely with the Chapter 11 trustee, who is to present a new restructuring plan. According to the compulsory SEC statement, the company is continuing to look for investors and is looking to sell non-core parts of the business.

Endgame might be afoot for SCO Group

The SCO Group and its battle against IBM and Novell over ownership of computer code may have taken a decisive turn Tuesday when a U.S. Bankruptcy Court official sought permission to dissolve the company and sell off its assets.

The filing in bankruptcy court in Delaware came just as attorneys for the Utah company were preparing for arguments today in an appeals court in Denver. A favorable decision there would reverse a ruling that caused SCO to seek bankruptcy court protection in the first place.

The trustee appointed by the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware asked the presiding judge for permission to liquidate The SCO Group instead of allow it to reorganize and emerge from court protection.

Trustee Roberta A. DeAngelis told the court the company has “continued to rapidly lose money” since filing for bankruptcy two years ago. In addition, the company has had three failed attempts to sell itself or propose a plan to reorganize and continue in business.

Fedora 10 available in Linux Identity Pack!

SCO’s Appeal Hits the Fast Track

SCO Hikes Prices

SCO seeks to auction off assets