OSDL Pays For Linus Torvalds' SCO Defense

geoff313 writes " For all of you who might be worried about what financial consequences Linus Torvalds might have to endure as a result of being subpoenaed by SCO, fear not: the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL) will pay for its law firm to represent him. the OSDL, who are Torvalds' employer, will announce on Friday that the "OSDL has agreed to fund legal representation for Torvalds and any other employees of the lab who may become involved in the litigation." Just in case you didn't you didn't know, the OSDL is funded by a variety of corporations including (but not limitied to) IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, Cisco, Computer Associates, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and Nokia. "

Comments

Yet more SCO fodder

[cadfael]

FWIW, you might want to read Motley Fool's Tom Taulli's take on this. th3m0nk

Re:Question

[Anonymous Coward]

A subpoena is technically issued by the court. This does not mean, however, that a court actually approves it before it is served. Rather, attorneys are permitted, as officers of the court, to draft and serve subpoenas. If the subpoenaed party does not respond, or objects, than the issuer must go to court and file a motion to compel compliance with the subpoena. This is when the judge actually looks at the subpoena and passes on its validity.

If you're really interested in this, search for Rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and look on any Federal Court's website for a blank subpoena.

Re:Do you need a lawyer?

[Anonymous Coward]

Having been deposed before, and having watched others, he should have a lawyer. Their job is to train you for and protect you when the opposition tries to make you look like an ass. The SCO lawyer will try to twist anything and everything that Linus says to SCO's advantage. (That's why its called adversarial!)