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SCO To Counter Groklaw With 'Fair' Coverage

linuxwrangler writes "Tired of being 'flamed, dissected and dismissed' on Groklaw, SCO has decided to fight back. SCO's site, scheduled for launch on November 1, will be called prosco.net. Just yesterday SCO CEO and favorite /. whipping-boy Darl McBride gave a speech comparing the software industry to the 'wild west' and warning companies that they must protect their intellectual property or risk being 'sacked by open source-touting bandits.'"

36 of 557 comments (clear)

  1. Ahh ahh!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Wait for it...

    And in tonight's news, Fox News is sueing SCO over the use of the word Fair! SCO allegedly plans to countersue saying they've got prior art on using litigation to stifle competition!

    More at 11!

  2. New gold my hiney by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The new gold is IP," McBride said. ...SCO soon to become ghost town, after unsuccessfully mining the Linux kernel and not finding one itty bitty nugget.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:New gold my hiney by Frymaster · · Score: 5, Funny
      i love the "wild west" theme. it's so... untenable. my fave:

      ...risk being 'sacked by open source-touting bandits.'"

      by extension this implies that sco is guilty of carrying a concealed source... perhaps in one of those fast tear-away source holsters.

    2. Re:New gold my hiney by Jaywalk · · Score: 5, Interesting
      "The new gold is IP," McBride said. ...SCO soon to become ghost town, after unsuccessfully mining the Linux kernel and not finding one itty bitty nugget.
      Right idea, wrong metaphor. Linux is a source of gold, but it's more like The Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs. As in Aesop's fable, you can feed and care for the goose and a reliable source of gold will come your way. Darl is trying to kill the goose to get at all the eggs at once but, like the fool in the story, he's ending up with nothing. Those who have been looking after the goose (Red Hat, Novell, IBM, et al) have profitted.
      --
      ===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
    3. Re:New gold my hiney by sacrilicious · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Right idea, wrong metaphor. Linux is a source of gold, but it's more like The Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs [bartleby.com]. As in Aesop's fable, you can feed and care for the goose and a reliable source of gold will come your way. Darl is trying to kill the goose to get at all the eggs at once but, like the fool in the story, he's ending up with nothing. Those who have been looking after the goose (Red Hat, Novell, IBM, et al) have profitted.
      Might be worth noting that unlike the golden goose, Linux can't be killed. Perhaps we could use a reverse-Midas analogy where everything Darl tries to possess turns into dung, whereas it becomes gold in anyone else's hands.
      --
      - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
  3. Good 'ol Darl... by Chordonblue · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess when you can't fight on the side of truth then you can always try and rewrite it after the fact.

    See Darl? This is why the old guard from Caldera warned you not to go after the 'open source crowd'. Your page of lies will be dissected by hundreds of others on Groklaw. The best thing is, this time instead of shooting off your mouth, your words will be in some web cache.

    Choose your topics wisely Darl. You will be watched...

    --
    "...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
    1. Re:Good 'ol Darl... by FunWithHeadlines · · Score: 5, Interesting
      "This is disingenuous, though. As PJ and every Groklaw reader knows, this behavior is typical and wholly unsurprising. SCO are idiots, and their lawyers at this point are merely scrambling to avoid malpractice censure."

      Given SCO's history, it may well have been said tongue in cheek. But it is actually surprising, and always has been, that the law team hasn't muzzled McBride and company. That is typically how these things are done. You don't see IBM execs shooting their mouths off, after all, even though they have been the ones accused of wrongdoing. You can bet that any lawyer worth their fees will tell their client to shut up and let them do the defending in the court.

      In fact, SCO's behavior has been so surprising, I wouldn't be a bit shocked to one day learn that they overrode their lawyers, or they worked in concert with their lawyers, to try the case in the court of public opinion since they knew they had no real chance in court. Of course, that would imply nefarious behavior on SCO's part, and I wouldn't want to speculate on that. Who knows what they really think. But yeah, it is suprising that SCO would comment on ongoing litigation. The smart move is to say, "No comment."

  4. Re:We HAVE to slashdot that site! by tntguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As annoying and frustrating as it can be, idiots of this caliber must be allowed to demonstrate why those who know better, know better.

  5. Gentlemen, start your googlebombs. by douglips · · Score: 5, Funny
    1. Re:Gentlemen, start your googlebombs. by sharkey · · Score: 5, Funny

      Don't dilute the litigious bastards mark. I propose we consider ass-ramming uncle-fuckers as the appropriate label.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  6. Re:We HAVE to slashdot that site! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No, let's not.

    Why don't we, instead, just completely ignore SCO and McBride and their ilk, and just let IBM pick their bones. The only press they are getting is when Linux supporters react to McMouth's gasings. So, NO responses to any 'news' articles, or anything else about SCO and their attempted theft of the Linux kernel and associated utilities will do more to make McBride look the fool he is than any of our responses. He's old news. Forget him.

  7. Re:WTF?? by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    prosco isn't so bad, especially when you consider the alternatives:

    ilovesco.com
    ohyesyesgimmesco.com
    chicksdigsco .com
    mcbrideforprez.com
    gaysforsco.com
    scorgasm .com

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  8. prosco? by Jaywalk · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Okay, so let me get this straight. Since they can't get people to believe SCO's spin when it's reported via credible news sources, they figure it's going to get a better reception when posted on an admittedly self-serving web site? I know it's standard on Slashdot to assume that the PHBs will accept anything they read, but even a PHB (or at least most of them) would have to know the difference between news and spin when the site's name is Pro-SCO. Somebody would have to be deliberately looking for SCO's spin even to go to this site.

    If anyone actually reads this site it's only going to be for the comic relief.

    --
    ===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
  9. Free? by MynockGuano · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The open source movement says that proprietary software shouldn't exist. They say that the operating system should be free, but that's a slippery slope," McBride said. "There's 12 million developers worldwide, are you gonna let their work be free?"

    Yes?

  10. pro-sco or pros-co? by LuxFX · · Score: 5, Funny

    At first I thought prosco.com was for pros. co., as in "A Prosecuting Company". That about sums it up.

    --
    Punctanym: alternate spelling of words using punctuation or numerals in place of some or all of its letters; see 'leet'
  11. Re:How long before... by ravingsanity · · Score: 5, Informative

    According to the article:

    "There are, however, no plans to allow readers to discuss the documents on the Web site. "If we opened it up to that, it would simply become another one of the message boards that our detractors use to try and overwhelm us," Stowell said."

    So there will be no comments allowed on the site.

    --
    I tried to dial REALITY once and I was informed that it had been disconnected.
  12. Re:I can only hope by mr_z_beeblebrox · · Score: 5, Funny

    that they'll have a public forum open long enough to get their comments debunked on their own site! :-D

    I think I saw the Beta site. A lot of members, let me list some:
    McBride
    Dary1234
    DarylM
    MrMcB
    These people were really pro sco. I hope he er... they don't start ScoDotting our servers :-)

    It was like one guy, but he could hit refresh REALLY fast

  13. Re:Sounds More Like.... by ccharles · · Score: 5, Insightful

    McBride the sheriff of Naughtingham?

    No, Robin Hood actually stole from the Sherrif. That would suggest that Linux actually stole code from SCO. I think we're all pretty confident that that hasn't happened.

  14. In Accordance with Truth-in-advertising... by Radical+Rad · · Score: 5, Funny

    The new web site will be known as... SCOfflaw.net

  15. Domain expires in one year... by Chris+Brewer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess they figured that it'd be a waste of money springing for a two-year registration. It's not like there'll be anybody there left to renew the domain next October after they've been left as a smouldering caldera...

    --
    Consultancy: If you're not part of the solution, there's money to be made in prolonging the problem
  16. How humiliating by ikekrull · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Darl has run this once innovative and successful company so far into the ground that they see 'the competition' as PJ/Groklaw.

    So now it's not about IBM, it's not about UNIX, it's not about Linux, it's not about 'Intellectual Property'.

    Now it's about a lone ex-paralegal who had the balls (and i mean that in the nicest way possible) to tell it like it is.

    We can't have that, can we Darl? God forbid anyone actually accept a version of events that corresponds with legal and technical realities instead of simply believing whatever stupid lies you cooked up after another hard night on the Canopy crackpipe.

    Whats next, are you going to come up with an alternate justice system because no court in the US will accept SCO's ridiculous legal 'arguments' either?

    People *hate* what you and your company are doing, Mr. McBride.

    It is wrong, and no amount of P.R. spin will change that. Shame on you.

    --
    I gots ta ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long
  17. Custer's last stand... by 955301 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As long as we're comparing to American western history, let's take a more comparable example: General Custer.

    1. Rumor has it the guy was a lunatic by the time he decided to attack the natives. Check.
    2. He and his little army set out to battle against an opponent with a larger head-count. Check.
    3. The natives didn't have a choice: Custer was pretty much set on attacking them no matter what they did. Check.
    4. The natives were fighting for existence. Custer for glory. Check.
    5. The end result was the glorifying of Custer and a signature point in the demise of the Native American population. Let's hope squashing SCO doesn't backfire into some sort of us against them attitude with big business.

    --
    You are checking your backups, aren't you?
  18. Re:I can only hope by TigerNut · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sorry - I misattributed the statement to Darl - it was actually one of his minions, Blake Stowell:
    "The site will include a calendar of the cases SCO currently has in litigation as well as access to the legal filings made in SCO's cases. There are, however, no plans to allow readers to discuss the documents on the Web site. "If we opened it up to that, it would simply become another one of the message boards that our detractors use to try and overwhelm us," Stowell said."

    --

    Less is more.

  19. Good Analogy McBride. I like it. by Speak+Forcefully · · Score: 5, Insightful

    McBride is right about it being the Wild West, but it's more like the railroads vs the farmers and small merchants. The rail roads would come in and pull all kinds of stunts to get what they wanted and at times wipe out entire towns, usually under color of law with the sheriff working to further their interests. I've lost count the number of Kevin Costner-type movies that were made about such subjects, with the good guys coming out as something less than winners.

    McBride is merely a sheriff working for his boss (Microsoft, Sun, etc) and looking to bring some good old "law" to The West on their behalf. I have no idea what to call IBM and Novell. They'd kill us tomorrow if it suited their interests, but I guess for the moment they are the gun slinging Clint Eastwood types that have a disdain for the townsfolk, but really, really, really hate the corrupt sheriff, his henchmen and the railroad goons. I guess we should be ... sort of thankful.

    So McBride's notion about it being The Wild West is actually pretty accurate, with SCO representing the interests of the railroads and robber barons.

    Why do you think when you were getting shafted in the old days the term often used was "This was a railroad job" or "We railroaded those guys off the map" and so on... it was because the railroads had lots of power and generally screwed over the little guy.

  20. Not long now... by LiteForce · · Score: 5, Funny
    Domain Name: PROSCO.NET
    Created on: 04-OCT-04
    Expires on: 04-OCT-05
    Last Updated on: 04-OCT-04

    Obviously, SCO feels that they aren't going to be around after this date... or one would think they would at least have bothered to splash out the extra cash for a 2-year reg rather than just a 1-year reg.

    --
    "Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wuntime ewwors!" - Elmer Fudd
  21. It's a setup, folks... Don't fall for it. by thedarb · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You know it's just got to be a honey pot, right? I'm guessing they are trying to bait someone into hacking the new web site in hopes of making the Open Source community look bad to the press and to the courts. Remember, they already claimed Open Source advocates attacked their main web site a while back... but now they'll spin it as us trying to censor free speach. It's a setup to try and identify our Open Source community with the evil dregs of computing, script kiddies.

    --
    This sig intentionally left blank.
  22. Re:We HAVE to slashdot that site! by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Besides, if the site does get slashdotted McBride will just claim it was "hacked" by Linux zealots.

  23. Come on, guys, they ain't so bad by happyemoticon · · Score: 5, Funny

    SCO is a company with good intentions. Remember, fellas: they developed the original Unix from scratch with punch cards and tweezers and jumpers and things.

    Now they're being picked on by all these dangerous firms on the edge of legality like "International Business Machines" (clearly a front for the communist and/or nazi party) and an irregular army of anarchist hacker geniuses.

    I mean, seriously, if SCO doesn't turn this thing around, what WILL happen to Unix?

  24. It's a Red Herring! by kuwan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't you see, this is SCO's next step in their vexatious litigation strategy. They're going to launch their Pro-SCO site and open up the forums. Then when the masses of FOSS supporters flock to the forums to debunk all of SCO's claims, SCO will be secretly recording their IP addresses, personal information, etc.

    Then they'll take their newly acquired information and track you down so they can sue you! Then they'll be rich Rich RICH!

    MWAHAHA MWAHAHAHA MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

  25. What kind of mind control is Darl under? by francisew · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder if he's also waiting for aliens hiding behind a comet to come and rescue his business from all the 'open source bandits' who want to rob real developers everywhere of their work.

    Has he not yet realized that open source doesn't mean that developers can't be paid. Does he not realize that there is a commercially viable business model for open source and free software? Doesn't he know that open source doesn't mean free?

    Darl, wake up: you are crusading against something that will only end up helping people!

    I bet that the '12 million developers worldwide' would prefer to see SCO invest their litigation costs in actual software development.

    That kind of money (multibillion dollar lawsuit ) could produce a valuable open source software package. heh. With the right business model, they might even be able to turn a profit without suing the pants off everyone they can point a stick at. more heh.

    If "the new gold is IP," why is it costing SCO so much to have enforced? It's alchemy they are after, not mining. Unfortunately for them, lead doesn't become gold without great expense.

  26. Re:New gold ... is greed by symbolic · · Score: 5, Interesting


    Of course, greed is nothing new, but "IP" is just a way for companies to milk something that isn't really there. To be fair, I do believe there is some innovative effort that deserves protection, but the key word here is "innovative". Amazon's "one-click" patent, for example, is in NO WAY innovative. Most of the patent applications coming from the software industry aren't innovative, they're just attempts to steal empowerment from the public at large.

    I was thinking about this the other day - software is the only industry I know where an individual or company has the right to own common methods. What if, for example, I went to the hardware store to buy some lumber, nails, and a hammer so that I could build something that would add value to my life? What if I also had to consult a patent attorney before doing so, fearing that the method I use to construct this item might be covered by someone's patent? The idea is ludicrous, but this is the very situation that we now face in the software industry. Every time a developer puts an idea into code, there is a very real possibility that a patent violation is in the works - not intentional, not maliscious, but by mere virtue of the fact that the developer has the ability to empower both him/herself and others by what they produce. Any alleged infractions exist only because someone also had the same idea, and was greedy enough to claim ownership.

    Let's face it - this isn't about IP. It's about greed, lockout, and theft of empowerment.

  27. Appalled by the ethics of SCO... by neurocutie · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Darl McBride gave a speech comparing the software industry to the 'wild west' and warning companies that they must protect their intellectual property or risk being 'sacked by open source-touting bandits.'

    Nevermind the legalese and who can "win" lawsuits...

    I was reading a recent review of SCO's Unixware. The review seemed fair, objective and Unixware didn't come out too badly, BUT it was amply clear that the MAJOR reason that Unixware is still a product that one wouldn't be totally crazy to deploy, the MAJOR reason that Unixware could be viewed as even somewhat competitive is OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE, the OSS packages such as Samba, Apache, Open-SSH, etc that SCO "grabbed" from OSS to make Unixware a credible product.

    So here we have SCO borrowing HEAVILY from OSS, not paying a dime for key, strategic software that form the basis for whether Unixware is even slightly competitive on the market, and yet SCO is crying that OSS is 1) bad for the industry, 2) is stealing their oldy-moldy SysV code. I just find that APPALLING. Those guys have no shame, really. They should be GIVING BACK to OSS something for all the software they have taken into their own products, rather than trying to claim IP rights to this SysV, invalid as their claims are. This "all TAKE, no GIVE" approach of theirs to the community is the ultimate in despicable behavior.

  28. Go ahead, make my day by lildogie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    SCO could get in trouble with the SEC if they misrepresent their standing in court on their website.

    Besides which, the judges are noticing SCO's public statements, and if SCO contracticts what they're telling the judge, or what the judge is telling them, they could annoy the judge.

  29. MSN NEWS REPORTS SCO IS WINNING THEIR IP CASES! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's not funny.

    MSN can't post links to Groklaw. SCO's anti-Linux FUD that M$ bought is failing. M$ needs a way to spin these latest developments and send up more FUD signals.

    First SCO puts up a site to blow smoke up our collective asses. We don't bite, but we're not the target audience.

    Next M$ has MSN announce "news" stories along with links to case analysis on SCO new sites. Again, the few of us who actually visit MSN to see the FUD shake our heads and laugh at the unbelievable remarks. Unfortunately the ignorant masses buy into it and repeat it as truthful objective news.

    M$ ends up with much more FUD bang for their buck while SCO prepares to spin their bankruptcy in a way that squarely places blame on FOSS. FOSS killed SCO, you're next!

    Hey, maybe SCO can charge MSN freelance fees for doing stories for them! That'll help resupply SCO's dwindling war chest!

  30. Finally, a profitable business model! by IGnatius+T+Foobar · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is going to bring in some real revenue for them. All they have to do is put some banner ads on the site, maybe some Google AdSense boxes... since everyone's going to be constantly visiting prosco.com to see what absurd things Darl is saying next, SCO can just sit back and let the ad revenue pour in!

    It'll be more profitable than SCOsource ten minutes after the site launches!

    --
    Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
  31. In depth analysis: by eddy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here's the payout matrix:

    McBride | Lawyers
    --------+------------
    STFU | Get paid
    Talks | Get paid
    ---------------------

    Where's the surprise?

    --
    Belief is the currency of delusion.