The smartest and dumbest tech moves of 2007, Dec 21, 2007

“The judge slapping down SCO in the SCO vs. IBM/Novell lawsuit was the smartest move,” says Andreas Antonopoulos, founding partner at Nemertes Research and a Network World columnist.

When SCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it was widely seen as a move to avoid the final steps in its case with Novell. On Nov. 27, however, the bankruptcy court lifted its stay on the Novell trial, and so the SCO/Novell court case is once again free to proceed.

Groklaw is the blog that has made a difference. Created as a personal project by Pamela Jones, better known as PJ, in 2003, its stated purpose was to increase understanding of the law as it is applied to Linux and free software

Earlier this week, it seemed that the only thing between York Capital buying SCO was the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware turning the proposed sale down. Then, in a surprise move on Nov. 20 SCO withdrew its emergency motion asking the court to allow it to sell its assets to York. The question of the day: why?

Wow. SCO has withdrawn its motion, the "emergency" motion, to sell its assets. No reason given. Maybe all the peals of laughter from the IBM and Novell attorneys at the hearing? And all the "Oh, no you don'ts"? Here's the docket listing:

York Capital Management's proposed Asset Purchase Agreement and its associated credit agreement for SCO make it clear that if the bankruptcy court lets York buy SCO, that York will be bankrolling SCO's continued lawsuits against Novell, IBM and other Linux-using companies.

In the United States, SCO's Linux/Unix litigation has been stalled out while the company's bankruptcy trial is being dealt with. In Germany, however, several court cases have found SCO Group GmbH, SCO's Germany branch, guilty of lying about Linux containing stolen Unix code.

Renewed proceedings have been brought against the SCO Group GmbH [Ltd.] and its apparent managing director Mike Olson by the Bonn-based Tarent GmbH as well as the Bremen-based Univention after derogatory remarks about Linux had re-appeared

Can SCO escape Novell's wrath? Will SCO CEO Darl McBride emerge rejuvenated and ready to continue the Linux legal wars by selling SCO's Unix business? These and many more questions will be answered in the next episode of "As SCO Turns."

In this Q & A, she explains how Groklaw operates, what its purposes include, and where it is likely to head in the future.

The SCO Group, working to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, hopes to sell its Unix assets to York Capital Management for up to $36 million, the company said this week in regulatory and bankruptcy court filings.

The SCO Group is seeking U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval to sell its Unix business to a New York investment management firm for $36 million, according to documents filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The never ending story surrounding SCO's litigation over alleged copyright infringements contained in Linux as well as the copyrights to Unix has taken yet another twist: The SCO Group, currently subject to proceedings under Chapter 11, is causing a stir as details in relation to their payment obligations emerge.

Novell filed a motion yesterday in SCO's bankruptcy case in Delaware asking for the automatic stay on litigation to be lifted so that the SCO v. Novell lawsuit can go to trial in Utah Federal District Court.

Bankrupt SCO Group is doing its darndest to beat off its adversaries, particularly Novell Inc., keeping them from staking a claim on its remaining assets.

If the corporate Grim Reaper is truly knocking on the door of The SCO Group Inc., no one apparently told the company's CEO and president, Darl C. McBride.

Losing in court, vilified on blogs and in bankruptcy proceedings, SCO Group CEO Darl McBride still says pronouncements of the death of the Utah software company are premature, if not greatly exaggerated.

The Nasdaq stock exchange has given The SCO Group Inc. a little more time to get its financial house in order.

In August, Darl McBride, The SCO Group Inc.’s president and CEO, declared it “one of the more exciting times” ever for the software vendor. But by last week, the excitement had taken on a whole new dimension.

While the Net is flush with celebration and legal analysis (and am happy that SCO did not prevail), I think my take on this is a bit more sobering in the bigger picture of our great industry.

In the print edition of Forbes there's a great (albeit sometimes painful) tradition of doing "follow-through" articles where a reporter either takes a victory lap for making a good call or falls on his sword for making a bad one. Online publications don't typically ask for follow-throughs. But I need to write one.

Predicting SCO's demise is a popular hobby in open-source circles. Now, however, with SCO recent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the experts believe that SCO's end is near.

SCO Group CEO Darl McBride says competition from the open source Linux operating system was a major reason why the company was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday.

I thought it would be fun to include some of the media reaction to the news of the SCO bankruptcy filing. Some of the headlines are inspired. The winner has to be "SCO files Chapter 11 bankruptcy - Seeks court protection from its own lawsuits".

It finally happened. Hounded by its enemies, SCO has had to declare chapter 11 bankruptcy. And, somewhere in Novell's offices there are some lawyers popping open a bottle or two of champagne.

SCO Group Inc., the embattled software company best known for litigation targeting distributors of open-source, Linux software, said Friday it has filed for bankruptcy.

SCO wanted a jury to hear its side of the story in its Novell lawsuit, but U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball has ruled that he, and he alone, will hear the case.

Darl McBride has the unenviable reputation as the man who tried to milk Linux.

SCO Group's breach-of-contract and copyrights claims against IBM have been annihilated by the decision that Novell, not SCO, is the rightful owner of the Unix copyrights, according to IBM.

While SCO Group Inc.'s future may seem precarious following a courtroom setback earlier this month, Chief Executive Darl McBride says he has a plan to salvage the controversial software company.

SCO could be facing a serious cash and asset shortage if it does not receive a favorable decision in its 3-1/2-year-old legal battle with Novell over the Unix operating system.

Following Judge Kimball's declaration that the Unix System V copyrights belonged to Novell, Steven Vaughan-Nichols speculated about what the decision might mean for Sun, which updated its Unix license to System 5 Release 5 in February 2003.

Did Groklaw really have an impact on those court cases? Naaah. The impact was on the rest of us. That collection of documents gave SCO’s suits a transparency that’s impossible to come by with most IT industry litigation.

The SCO boogeyman has now been exposed to be a straw scarecrow with no real substance.

SCO and Novell have jointly filed their Status Report, in which they answer the judge's question as to what they believe is the effect of his August 10th Memorandum Decision and Order. What's left for the trial? They've talked it over, and they don't agree.

... a potentially more serious threat still exists, in the form of Microsoft Corp.'s claim earlier this year that Linux and other open-source technologies infringe on 235 of its patents.

SCO may have lost a major legal battle with Novell, but it refuses to admit that it may have lost its Linux IP war.

Nearly 54 months ago, when the SCO Group launched its legal action against IBM, there were a number of cheerleaders - both SCO personnel and outsiders - who contributed a great deal to the debate.

According to the Judge’s memorandum, there is some doubt as to whether SCO ever truly believed it was the owner of those copyrights...

Although Novell has won clear title to Unix's IP (intellectual property) rights, SCO isn't ready to throw in the towel yet.

At the closing bell, the stock had lost 71 percent of its value over the course of the day, reaching a 52-week low.

The SCO Group frightened potential business users away from Linux with lawsuits demanding billions in royalties. But the litigious company's claims were shot down in a ruling that will likely boost uptake of the operating system.

At long last, the SCO Group's ugly, often farcical legal crusade against Linux appears to be over.

In a decision that may finally settle one of the most bitter legal battles surrounding software widely used in corporate data centers, a federal district court judge in Utah ruled Friday afternoon that Novell, not the SCO Group, is the rightful owner of the copyrights covering the Unix operating system.

U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball has ruled that Novell, not SCO, owns Unix's IP (intellectual property) rights. This, in turn, means the end of SCO's cases against IBM.

Talk about irony. Now that we know "Fake Steve Jobs" is Forbes reporter Dan Lyons, we also know that FSJ--as Lyons--once tried to out the tech industry's other, equally infamous sub-rosa blogger--Groklaw's Pamela Jones.

I thought it would be useful, judging from some recent confusion in the media, to highlight the latest goings on in all the ongoing cases in the SCO saga

The SCO Group, best known for its Unix software and Linux litigation, on June 5 reported results for its second quarter ended April 30, 2007. As expected, the company's revenue continued its decline.

SCO was projecting that revenues of its SCOsource licenses for Linux would generate billions of dollars in revenues for the company, chief executive Darl McBride testified in a deposition on 27 March 2007.

PJ at Groklaw has uncovered this little gem from an exhibit filed in SCO v. Novell. Fascinating stuff. It's always interesting when you can finally read things that were intended to be private.

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