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ACCC Asks SCO To Explain Themselves

Posted by simoniker on from the blimey dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) governmental organization has issued a request to SCO to provide information regarding complaints filed with it, according to The Age. This deals with issues regarding SCO's IP claims, and statements regarding the need for commercial Linux users to obtain a Unix licence. With any luck, that'll be Slashdot's daily dose of SCO news..."

9 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. SCO by D'Sphitz · · Score: 1, Insightful

    isn't gonna explain themselves. That part is pretty clear already...

    1. Re:SCO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Oh don't worry. SCO will do just fine without Australia. Even if they lose both their Australian customers, I'm sure they still have several left in other countries.

      Anyway, customers are just unnecessary baggage in today's FUD-chain based economy. Retaining customers just slows you down and forces inconvenient coherence in your press release campaigns. When your stock price is driven by investor perceptions of the Lawsuit Of The Day, coherent statements solidly grounded in fact, and by extension customers, become nothing but worse-than-useless boat anchors dragging you down.

      Remember, if this were your company, first and foremost on your mind should be making the down-payment on that yacht and villa in Bermuda. How in the hell would customers help you do that?

  2. yeah, right by mOoZik · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Something tells me they still won't release any actual code and provide proof that it was/is theirs. Nothing new from SCO...

    --
    A blog like any other.
  3. Re:With any luck... by Disevidence · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No the ACCC doesn't understand whats going on, thats why they are asking SCO for a please explain. A Victorian group has complained about it, and ACCC are trying to find the facts from both sides.

    But its always good to see our ACCC responding to complaints in the right way, by finding out the facts. Hopefully this all pans out well for Aussie Linux Users.

    --
    Think nothing is impossible? Try slamming a revolving door.
  4. Re:SCO's answer by Now15 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Here in Australia, Steve Irwin is largely ignored. The Crocodile Hunter doesn't even screen on Australian TV...

    --

    Computers are useless: they can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
  5. Well done by evil_roy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is actually better than a lawsuit. The ACCC has real teeth in Australia and can demand and enforce instant compliance. The fact that they use these powers for somewhat dubious outcomes is a point of contention here, but a referral their way has to be at least investigated.

    These guys love publicity and this is win/win for them. They get to flex some muscle and no Aussie company(read Packer or Murdoch) will be asked to do anything.

  6. Re:Hello... Thank you... Bye... by Charm · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I guess they should get a form letter back... "Thank you for taking interest in our Linux license program. Please visit our website for further details and be sure to sign up for our mailing list".

    That might work in the USA but other countries actually have working legal systems.

    --
    -- RTFM:Slackware::Beer:Saturday
  7. SCO's Explination: by freidog · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You see, we SCO execs were rich, but not filthy rich
    So Darl, and a bunch of the guys decided to go around making absurd claims about how everyone and their grandmother who had access to the System V code dumped said code (which we will claim we own (yes, even the public domain parts) for the purposes of said absurd claims) into Linux.
    Thus, with promises of massive payoffs from those hapless users who unkowingly used what we claim is our property, the uniformed MBA's over on wall street will want to buy our otherwise worhtless stock. And then; 3. Profit!.

  8. Re:With any luck... by honestpuck · · Score: 3, Insightful
    ACCC couldnt enforce mandatory breathing on anyone, let alone get this right.
    Actually the ACCC has done a pretty good job at understanding technology in several cases. I was involved in a case (as expert witness) where they and the TGA stopped a guy trading prescription drugs over the 'net. The people at ACCC showed a good understanding of what was going on. They also did a good job when the music publishers tried to stop several record stores from legally importing records from South East Asia. All the publishers ended up paying large fines and damages to the stores.