Slashdot Mirror


SCO Denied Motion To Change IBM Case Again

Rob writes "SCO Group Inc's attempt to change its legal case against IBM Corp for the third time has been denied by the judge, who has also set the two companies a deadline to present their respective evidence with specificity. Despite repeated public declarations that it has evidence Linux contains Unix code that infringes its copyright, SCO has yet to present any evidence to the court." Bad news for them all around, lately.

9 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bad news? Why? by Little+Pink+Bunny · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The sarcastic implication being that it's bad news for SCO. Kind of like when an obnoxious player on the opposite team sprains an ankle: "aww, tough luck, buddy."

    --
    I am a
  2. Re:Where it all ends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In the case of IBM this means a declaration that Linux is totally unemcumbered by anyone's Unix IP.

    You mean unencumbered by IP that can be licensed by SCO.

  3. Why they couldn't amend their complaint by lheal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Judge Kimball is on to them.

    We non-lawyers think of judges as impartial watchers of the courtroom. Sometimes they are. Most of the time, though, they pick a winner and spend the rest of the case guiding the decision the way they think it should go and covering themselves for appeal.

    That's how it's been with SCO v IBM. After months and months without any credible evidence, after seeing the SCO group twist his words and the words of Magistrate Judge Wells (who's handling much of the pre-trial bickering), he began to take on a more aggressive tone. He hasn't been on IBM's side, but it looks like he has seen the inevitable result and is trying to make sure his decision doesn't get turned over on appeal.

    So when The SCO Group tried to amend their complaint based on an out-of-context reading of IBM's Ninth Counterclaim (a request for a ruling that IBM didn't infringe SCO's copyrights), he said no, that the counterclaim must be read in context. He said they were just delaying. if he thought they had a snowball's chance in July, he might have allowed the change.

    --
    Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
  4. Re:Why is their stock nonzero? by Dav3K · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Problem is, if you are caught holding the stock today, you are going to be hard pressed to find anyone who will buy it. Also, much of the stock is held by people like Ransom Love, who have other reasons for hanging on to it. Being principle shareholder in a dead company can be handy if you have plans on re-forming.

  5. Groklaw has a lot more... by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Obviously, but in addition to denying SCO's motion to Amend, Judge Kimball also set a date this Fall by which SCO must declare with specifity the items on which it will be relying to make its case.

    And that friends, is where the nuts hit the grinder.

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
  6. Re:Bad news? Why? by JerryBruckheimer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd say it's bad news all around because the case won't go to trial until 2007. 2007! How SCO has been able to stretch this case out until 2007 is beyond me.

  7. Re:Why is their stock nonzero? by MrLint · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I still say IBM wait for SCOs stock to totally crash, buy up all the assets and then open source (id prefer bsd license) the whole of Unix. its the only proper way to add insult to injury.

  8. Re:Why is their stock nonzero? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I still say IBM wait for SCOs stock to totally crash, buy up all the assets and then open source (id prefer bsd license) the whole of Unix. its the only proper way to add insult to injury.

    That assumes that SCO owns the copyrights to UNIX. It may not, as there is a court case going on with Novell over that very issue.

  9. Compare and contrast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The coverage that SCO got in the media when they claimed that Linux had stolen code in it was enormous. Not only did they get tons of coverage with a resulting boost to their stock price, but dozens of professional opinion expressers signed their NDA and gave statements to the effect that SCO's case was a slam dunk and that Linux was full of stolen code. Years later after yet another clear sign that SCO in fact has NO evidence, the press is almost entirely silent on the issue.

    So either noone cares that SCO basically used the press to execute a brilliant pump and dump scheme against the entire industry (which would be a notable story by itself), or the press has a definite anti-Linux bias. Either way, the press has a lot to answer for in this case.