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SCO Postpones Lawsuit, Now Threatening Two
zzxc writes "In a surprise turn of events, SCO says that they need more time to prepare an announcement of who they are going to sue. According to SCO, the lawsuits will be announced tomorrow morning shortly before a phone-in conference in which will be outlining their financial report. You can call 1-800-818-5264 code 141144 Wednesday at 9:00am MST to join in with your questions, or listen to the webcast. They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses. (EV1.net servers or Lindows?)"
What a surpise! Sheesh, this is never going to go anywhere.
Buckethead
They freak me out.
They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses. (EV1.net servers or Lindows?)"
Huh? That can't be right. How could they be suing EV1 when they've already paid their extort^K^K^K^Klicense money.
"We will sue TWO of them against the gates of the courtroom...IN ONE HOUR!"
Knunov
Why do users with IDs under 100,000 or over 700,000 usually have the most worthwhile comments?
Somebody get on the call and ask them "If you have such a strong company and case, why do you feel the need to couple lawsuit announcements with your financial call?"
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
Obviously logic hasn't played a big part in any of their actions, but why in the hell would they sue EV1, one of the few companies that bothered to buy an SCO license, not to mention the fact that they admitted it!
It's not exactly case of biting the hand that feeds you, but it certainly be a case of alienating an ally that probably doesn't need to be alienated.
They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses.
When a company or organisation starts suing its own customers, then it's a sure sign that its business model is completely fucked. Look at the RIAA: suing Joe Teenager, to try and offset the fact that their profits are dropping like a lead balloon.
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
All this play by play of SCO is really tiring. It's like a bunch of fleas issuing flyers every time the dog takes a walk. Yes, something's happening. No, it's not that important.
I have been pwned because my
And I'm addicted to SCO news stories.
I'd hate to pay the bill for that telecon. Considering it usually costs $1 per minute per participant, perhaps we can put a dent in their extortion fund!
Seriously though, I hope the company that is hosting the telecon has a lot of lines reserved.
is for SCO to sue SCO. They are not a tech company but they use Linux. (go check Netcraft....they have actually dabbled in BSD for a bit on www.sco.com)
No trees were harmed in the composition of this; however, numerous electrons were inconvenienced.
This is the second announcement about an upcoming announcement today by SCO, right?
Meanwhile PJ at Groklaw is busy tearing them a new one over mentioning her in one of their propaganda blasts. Good reading. Hate to have her as one of my enemies.
This guy is way out there
I can't believe they are still around. Other countries take control and don't let them spread their junk. Why can't they be stopped here in the US too? I mean, it just urks me that after producing no evidence and spreading FUD, they haven't been required to stop, and in fact will file another backless lawsuit (or so the claim). Atleast its a good sign that they are taking so long. It shows that they're running out of juice
http://www.beyourowneviloverlord.tk
http://www.frozenchickenthrowing.tk
http://www.killercamel.tk
"They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses." Wow. That's a great business plan. Alienate your few and diminishing customers.
That's only in Germany and other smarter countries.
And im an American =\
Probably the same thing we did before SCO came onto the scene.
Masturbate furiously.
Huzzah!
They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses. (EV1.net servers or Lindows?)"
Since EV1.net is in the process of climbing into bed with Microsoft, and SCO has been warming itself under the same blankets for quite some time, I think it more likely that Lindows will be sent to the doghouse.
Then again, in a vain attempt to turn back the tide of hatred directed at it, SCO might turn around and sue Microsoft. What a twist that would be!
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Interestingly enough, although their stock (SCOX) ha s been in a decline for the past few months (it was 16+ the last time that I saw) it jumped quite a bit today. Up 1.15 to 13.42. Any reason why?
I think SCO is waiting for the media outlets to sign and return the NDA before they let them know who the lawsuits are against.
Who really expected them to follow through? There continual refusals to provide proof of Linux infringing on SCO patents is ample evidence that their lawsuit has no basis. They (SCO executives) would be wise to not further expand their lawsuits, as each company they sue can countersue for defamation. Overall this seems like a big scam - intimidate businesses into giving SCO money for linux licenses,causing SCOX to rise, and enriching McBride & co at the expense of the clueless investors who continue to buy worthless stock.
We are going to postpone our suing of two companies but tomorrow we are going to sue THREE!
...buy a SCO licence, have SCO slap a lawsuit on you anyway?? How do they expect to sell licences after this insanity?? Kinda a matter of shooting oneself in the foot.
The probability that someone is watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.
The #1 spot for Wired News' Vaporware Awards in 2004 goes to:
SCO for their "still pending" lawsuit! Congratulations guys!
If you had read the article the other day on Groklaw it stated that (I'm paraphrasing) that purchasing this license doesn't allow that user to actually USE SCO's intellectual property. All it really does is say "look, we know we're in the wrong here, so let's settle up".
Now because of the fact these people signed up for their license that shows they "admit guilt". So not only did they pay SCO the $799 (or whatever it is now) extortion fee, they also paid SCO to sue them. That's how the legal system works, my friends. EV1 and Lindows (if it's actually true) will get a first hand lesson now.
In a sense, buying a license under these methods and terms is basically the same as signing a confession to a crime that wasn't even committed.
Because originally SCO architected and did the preliminary work as a Service deal. Part of the contract that SCO delivered to Lindows stated that SCO would 'take care' of the GPL aspects of the code and would not provide anything that might get Lindows into trouble such as tainted source code etc etc etc.....
Lindows later went their own way and pursued a more debian focused route, however the contract still stands, though is ulimately open to interpretation
I wonder if my SCO spoof will be the target
MoFscker
Could they, would they, please be incredibly stupid enough to sue McDonald's, whose German operations are moving to SuSE. Talk about being crushed....
Suing EV1 less than 72 hours after they bought an SCO Linux IP License would be completely illogical, even for SCO. Everyone, including the Deutsch Bank anal-ists and Laura Didio, would then see the entire case as a big sham. They would completely lose the propaganda battle, which is the only battle they have a chance of winning in the first place. The entire scam would unravel as people realized there was no chance of SCO making money on Linux licenses, since nobody would buy one just to get sued 3 days later.
Ahh the magic of the linked article:
Google, which uses thousands of Linux servers to power its search engine, is not the target of the initial suits, Stowell added.
Besides, I don't know what legal principle they can use to sue any Linux user. Copyright violation? No. Contract violation? No, most don't have any contracts with SCO. Patents? They've never said anything about those. Trade secrets? Nope.
So, what are they mumbling? Anyone they can sue has to have a contract with them, i.e. be a licensee, so they can allege a contract violation (like IBM). Maybe SGI? Novell? Sun? Who knows. They have exactly nothing to go after Linux users in general.
Does anyone in the justice system have any common sense?
The whole thing that SCO is trying to "sell" is a binary runtime license(WTF-TM). Yet SCO will not distribute the binary to you, nor will it supply any support for the "product". Notwithstanding that there is no legal grounds to support SCO's ownership of said intellectual property (yet).
Is this a new business model or a non existant one?
They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses. (EV1.net servers or Lindows?)
Seems like they are saying they are going to sue someone who has already licensed Unixware or some other SCO-sold Unix OS, and *not* someone who has already licensed their "SCO IP," like EV1.
I bet they go after someone who has used SCO's OS in the past, but has been migrating to Linux. Nothing like a little retribution.
Of course, it's hard to tell with these bastards. They don't seem to be too.... stable. Mentally. Financially. Whatever.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
That somehow it backfires such that when the press spins it, it comes out with headlines like "SCO begins suing own customers".
All this would take is the press paying any attention to anything not directly from SCO's mouth. But maybe that's wishful thinking.
...also was recently posted at Groklaw. Their lawyers really did a decent job in making most Darl's rantings nice and legal like.
BSD users might find paragraph 84 interesting, since SCO basically claims it was impossible for Linux to achieve "complex multi-processor functionality" without SCO's UNIX code.
Darl: "Thanks everybody for listening in on this financial meeting. We've got some really good numbers to talk about today. Our core product, Turbo Litigation Plus, is doing very well right now. We've got more penetration in the court room market than any of our competitors and we feel that things are only going to get better from here on out."
Investor: "Can I just say that I love what this latest release had done to stock prices. I'm sleeping on a bed of money at home right now."
Darl: "That's great to hear. We're glad your happy, but please hold your comments until I'm finished speaking."
Investor: "..."
Darl: "Right now I'd like to announce a couple more features that we've added to Turbo Litigation Plus."
Listeners: A hush....Pent up excitement...Maniacal greed...
Darl: "First, we've decided to add Hasbro to our list of targets. We've discovered that the substance that give's Nerf(TM) toys their "Nerfiness", if you will, is actually part of the Intellectual Property of SCO in a very literal sense. It's what makes up 90% of our brains over here."
Investor: "Excellent!"
Darl: "Please man! *slaps the table* Let me speak!"
Investor: "..."
Darl: "Secondly, after a toss up between Ronco, the maker of the indespensible Door Saver(TM) which of course was actually invented by Billy over here, and McDonalds, maker of the McDarl, we've chosen to add, wait for it, ourselves!"
Listeners: Gasp!
Darl: "Yes folks, we're going to sue ourselves. I mean think about it, we own all our own Intellectial Property, we only have to pay half as much in lawyer fees, and I love to cross examine myself."
Listeners: Applause
Darl: "Thank you all for your time. SCO Rules!"
Advisor: "Darl..."
Darl: "Sorry."
One bad monkey spoils the whole barrel.
I bet one of them is AutoZone. SCO is pissed that AutoZone switched from SCO Unix to Linux, and claims that couldn't have been done without violating their IP. The meat of their argument is on groklaw here (Supplemental #8), and if you scroll down you can see some AutoZone employees refute the argument. Search for the comment by 'jbgreer'.
Although SCO's actions have attracted some negative attention from the Open Source Community, many High Scool teacers are exhuberant about the company's recent actions. Bob Frampton, High School calculus teacher at Frederick Davis High said of SCO's recent actions, "It's just great, they're literally changing the way we teach mathematics to our future leaders. It's only thanks to SCO that we can ask exciting new problems such as, 'If every day SCO doubles the number of lawsuits they claim to file the following day, how many days will it take before nobody cares?' or, 'If SCO doesn't play this thing out right, how long will it take before the Fed nails them with fraud? Extra Credit: how many board members will get caught? Support your answer by proof.'"
Not just math teachers are thrilled, though. Says Jane Yargood of another local High School, "Darl McBride really deserves a cookie, it's so great that we can teach students about logical fallacies through real world context!" With the end of this somewhat less than momentous case nowhere in sight, it's good to see that some of our educators can find the silver lining in any situation.
`which fortune`
I bet if they announced they were suing EV1, their stock price would hit 40 before the call ended.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
This reminds me of the "Free Ice Cream Tomorrow" sign that a guy had at his ice cream store in the early 1900's... when asked about why he wasn't giving ice cream away even though the sign had been up for over a day already, his response was always the same "because it's not tomorrow yet... it's still today".
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Yeah, they're known as "bagholders". These are the imbeciles that know nothing about the company, the case(s) or in fact anything, except a) that the PR says "We'll sue" and b) When companies announce that they'll sue, they go up. Also, there was the "We sold an IP license" thingy, you might remember? The one that noone know if it brought in any money for SCOX, but it sure made a lot of PR!
Anyhow; The bagholders are then sold into by insiders, which make a tidy profit.
The job of the bagholders then is to sit around and watch the stock slowly fall down again.
Typically they'll panic and sell at a big loss. Some bagholders are smarter and hang around for the second wave of bagholders and make it out at plus/minus zero.
He spent 2 years in Osaka trying to convert Buddhists to MORMANS and the most intellegent thing he can say about it is that he got free Japanese lessons?
/ yourmon ey/29boss.html
And the reason why Darl is the way he is?
"I am absolutely driven by people saying I can't do something."
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/business
-- A cat is no trade for integrity!
Sgi is the only party that I can think of that Sco has any real beef with, if they're smart that's who they'll go after.
Then again when you assume you make an ass out of u and me, and assuming that Sco is smart is risky.
Well art is art isn't it, but then again water is water; and east is east; and west is west; and if you take cranberries
The slashdot-effect on an 800 number?
Is this a new business model or a non existant one?
It's a brilliant business model. They don't have to actually claim ownership of anyone else's product because they aren't distributing or granting anything related to that product. They don't have to follow the terms of the GPL, because they aren't actually using the GPL. They don't have to cease distributing GPLed products, because they aren't actually violating the GPL, just loudly and constantly threatening they will violate it.
They are selling you a license from SCO to use someone else's product. Can they do this? Well, yes, they aren't actually licensing you anything. It's just a piece of paper that says "SCO says it's okay for you to use Linux". And they can certainly give you a piece of paper that says SCO says you can use something. The trick is that they're then trying to create the impression you're required to have an SCO license to use linux but never actually *DIRECTLY* saying those words-- and seem to be pulling it off.
It is like McDonalds was selling licenses to eat Subway sandwiches and strongly implying it was illegal to eat at Subway without one of these licenses and doing absolutely everything possible to convey this impression without actually saying the exact words "it is illegal to eat at subway without one of these licenses" (which would open them up to a preliminary injunction).
The "ever-pending" lawsuits remind me of the sign you see in some bars:
Free beer (tomorrow)
5. "Darl McBride, -1 Troll!"
4. "New SCO docs at www.tubg...."
3. "Can someone help me fix a Perl script?"
2. "Bad news everyone, Stephen King is dead."
And the number one comment will be:
"Fuck you Darl!"
BTW, I'll be the one with the air horn.
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
Moderators found this interesting, but it's still off topic.
And how many times do you need to repeat this posting before everyone gets your point, Mr. Karma Whore?
it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
Look for it on the right side of the front page.
Slashdot: where racism against Indians is OK...
I think this is an unfair generalization. Geronimo, Cochise, and Sitting Bull are some of my favorite figures in history.
It's as bad as saying we're totally US centric. Sheesh.
I can't find the Groklaw article now, but a summary from a Groklaw reader who "attended" one of their conference calls said that it was pretty obvious that SCO wasn't letting anybody ask questions that they didn't know (and therefore couldn't predict or spin to their advantage).
No sense in upsetting the investors with those questions they don't want to answer...
Jay (=
At the same time, they're claiming that the best way to avoid litigation with them is to sign a contract that acknowledges that they have more power over you (and Linux code) than most people believe they have any hope of proving in court.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
From the rumor mill. Suicide CEO Darl McBribe sues Merill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston, announced at a financial press briefing for the embattled company. Sends Wall Street reeling!!! Analysts left scratching their heads.
Since they scheduled the announcement for their earnings call, the numbers must be truly awful this quarter. If they had good numbers to report, they wouldn't need a distraction like this.
Do you want to ask Darl McBride an embarrasing question or two in front of most of the financial world? Sure, we all do!
The problem, however, is this: In a financial results call, not just anyone is allowed to ask a question. The people presenting the call get to pick and choose who gets to speak. Usually, private investors, media, and anyone from a company that has generated bad press do not get called on. So what can we do to weasel our way to the front of the question queue?
Well, if SCO has set up their call intelligently, nothing. The access code, 141144, might be the public access code, with a different code (or even a different phone number) given to people who can be trusted to ask "good" questions. But if everyone is coming in on the same number, then we have a chance.
You'll know you have a shot at a question if, instead of being joined to the call immediately after entering your access code, you instead talk to an operator. The operator will most likely ask you your name, your company's name, and maybe your phone number. If this happens, lie to them. Make up a name and phone number, and tell them that you are with an investment firm. Just pick something: CIBC World Markets, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs, anything like that will do. Bonus points if you pick a company that has invested in SCO. Write down your information so that you can remember it! The trick is to make yourself look like you'll ask a safe question, so that they'll look at you in the queue and say, "Hey, let's take that Eddie Smith from CSFB next..."
If you do get called on for a question, remember:
1) Be polite. "OMG Darl SUXXORZ!!!" will just generate a "There are no further questions at this time" from the operator.
2) Ask a difficult question that Darl hasn't answered before. Let him hang himself, it'll sink in better with the investors that way.
3) Keep going until they cut you off. They're not likely to let many more unfamiliar names ask questions after this.
4) If anyone asks, you didn't get any of these ideas from Slashdot.
Here's hoping for a great conference tomorrow!
[100% ISO 646 Compliant]
SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.
McDonalds is my guess. Someone else guessed AutoZone because they are also moving away from SCO Unix. But I think McDonalds will have better PR punch, so that's where I'm putting my money. I think it's also realistic to assume that they will also make the announcement during the "earnings" call itself so as to minimize the amount of time they have to spend discussing just how horrible their balance sheet was last quarter.
I am absolutely driven by people saying I can't do something.
..quite possibly with an eye to migrating from SCO's products. Darl, there is no way in hell you would win a suit against McDonalds. Their legal department would burn the SCO pimple right off of Utah's ass. Go ahead Darl. Sue McDonalds. I double dog dare you. You can't sue McDonalds and win.
Remember that kid we all knew when we were growing up that would take any dare? It was fun at first but you had to watch what you said around him after a while. Who wanted to explain to the kid's mom that he dared him to jump in front of a train? Darl seems to be just that sort of easily manipulated hothead.
Darl is no little kid. He's a rather nasty adult. He's already walked up to the biggest bully on the block and punched him in the nose. What else can we goad him into doing?
I like another poster's suggestion.
Hey Darl! We know you read Slashdot. So I'm going to make a dare with you. McDonalds is your largest customer. They even have a contractual relationship with you. And we all know what SCO says contracts are for. McDonalds has also been piloting Linux POS terminals in Germany at least.
It is like McDonalds was selling licenses to eat Subway sandwiches and strongly implying it was illegal to eat at Subway without one of these licenses
I can see it now...
"McDonald's has proof that Subway sandwiches incorporate trade secret and copyrighted elements of the Secret Sauce(TM). Because it is a trade secret, we cannot divulge this proof. Consider this notice that consumption of Subway sandwiches is tantamount to theft of McDonald's intellectual property. By the way, because of Subway's use of the 'lose weight' advertising gimmick, all of their sandwiches are now public domain."
"McDonald's is now prepared to release information that will demonstrate incontrovertibly that Subway is in violation of our Secret Sauce(TM) copyright. We can demonstrate that Subway uses this particular pickle recipe in their sandwiches, which is clearly the same used in the Secret Sauce(TM)."
- Followed by announcement from Heinz Corp. that those pickles are their product, have always been their product, and predate the birth of Ray Kroc.
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
I generally dont spend a lot of time reading parodies, but this one was good. I highly recommend it *after* watching the Darl interview video, posted on news.com front page today. Look for it on the right side of the page.
Who's up first
Higly entertaining content.
Before??
Why do you think so many Slashdotters are aware of the one-handed Dvorak keyboard layout?
I have more and more emphaty for this company, because they turn out to be just like me...
So, as I've said, I just have to love SCO, because they are just like me. In fact they are just like most of us working here on Duke Nukem Forever. We are working forever...
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
"They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses"
So if I read this correctly, if you purchased a SCO license then SCO can sue you? huh? Pardon my ignorance but wasn't the whole reason these guys purchased licenses was to be protected from lawsuit?
Signed... really confused SCO hater.
Has Comcast disconnected your Internet account? Same here. You can read about it at http://comcastissue.blogspot.com
You can listen to the call online here, once it starts:
http://biz.yahoo.com/cc/3/39693.html
John Susek
When I open the link, Epiphany pops up a Window telling me
You should only accept the security information if you trust "www.thescogroup.com" and "www.sco.com".
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
Hi, we have been in the discussion with being a high profile candidate for SCO (advertising our Linux Support for our customer's solutions)... Our Lawyer said simply : Buy a set of Linux CD Boxes and Support from SuSE, now Novell! The older, the better!
If SCO or their Lawyers show, up show them that you are using this system, and friendly point towards the case between Novell and SCO, and that once the issues have been resolved between those 2 parties, you would be willing to comply with whatever the outcome is.
Granted this was using two different products at the same time but close enough.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Open Sauce!
Thank you, I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waiter.
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
cat
"SCO: Who Do You Want To Sue Today?"
Well... Dictionary.com has the following for confabulate:
#1 To talk casually; chat.
#2 Psychology. To fill in gaps in one's memory with fabrications that one believes to be facts.
I'd say number 2 is without a doubt the correct use for the word. Also Sco can be realistically refered to by the euphemism number two
Economic Left/Right: -0.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.69