SCO Announces Plan to Increase Revenue

Devistater writes "Yesterday, SCO announced a new MLM called "Me Inc." using the EdgeClick platform in an attempt to boost sales. One of the apps on the Edgeclick site does mass text messages to cell phones. From the article: 'Becoming a Me Inc. Sales Agent requires no technical skills or training and no investment other than a smart phone and a subscription to Me Inc. digital services. With these two simple things, a sales agent can earn up to hundreds or thousands of dollars per sale in commissions and subscription annuities generated by each account they sign up.' Watch out for an increase in spam, SCO style. In the same press release [PDF], SCO also trademarks 'Me.' Groklaw also has a few details on their site."

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SCO makes software?

[Bryansix]

I just thought they were a legal firm designed to bring up frivolous lawsuits intended to net the company monatary judgements for no real work done.

Re:SCO makes software?

[middlemen]

Seriously, what does SCO sell ?

Re:SCO makes software?

[caffeination]

Not sure of the tone of your comment, but...
They used to be cool, back in the days of Caldera, Love, and United Linux. With their distro and participation in a promising Linux distro standardisation effort, they were really contributing to free software quite nicely.
Yes, everything was very cool indeed, until Darth McBride took over. "Congratulations. In a few short months you've dethroned Bill Gates as the most hated man in the industry."

Re:SCO makes software?

[generic-man]

Products and services, of course. :)

Re:SCO makes software?

[inode_buddha]

" Seriously, what does SCO sell ?"

They don't.

Rather, they e-Leverage the new paradigm to achieve synergistic results.

Re:SCO makes software?

[ajs]

Actually, you're thinking of The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO). This is The SCO Group. Different company. This one happens to have bought the intellectual property rights of the first one, but as I understand it, that's where the comparison ends.

Re:SCO makes software?

[caffeination]

No, although your point is correct, it doesn't undermine any of the facts I presented. Check the SCO Wikipedia article for yourself if you don't believe me. I'm actually thinking of Caldera Systems.
Caldera Systems, owned by Ransom Love, produced Caldera Linux, acquired the IP to OpenServer and Unixware (from the Santa Cruz Operation), and co-founded United Linux along with the likes of SuSE. Then Love sold up, McBride took over and changed the name to The SCO Group, all to thunderous applause in the Senate on Coruscant.

OOOhhhh!

[Philip K Dickhead]

Expanding Unix'x horizons are we? I'm glad SOMBODY is advancing the state of the art here!

Re:OOOhhhh!

[Anonymous Coward]

OK Darl, but don't post AC next time

Re:OOOhhhh!

[Anonymous Coward]

The general idea is to never reply to trolls. By replying to my earlier comment, you have indeed "sucked my fuck", so to speak.

Thank you for your time.

Leaked letter...

[grub]

To: All Staff
From: Darl McBride
Subject: How to increase our revenue.

Hello,

Recently I've been noticing an upswing in the popularity of
something called "Texas Hold'em"...

[snip]

Re:Leaked letter...

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

Should be more like a Nigerian scam letter...

OUTGOING

[Anonymous Coward]

HELLO WORLD
70575 70575
HELLO WORLD
71299 71299 38063 38063 72304 72304 68831 68831 44838 44838
67778 67778 03879 03879 93763 93763 33980 33980 13148 13148
85517 85517 32714 32714 50869 50869 79061 79061 80747 80747
81960 81960 86563 86563 50571 50571 30281 30281 20008 20008
34980 34980 77516 77516 04600 04600 87037 87037 18711 18711
90733 90733 33830 33830 69768 69768 29166 29166 31205 31205
86488 86488 80322 80322 20536 20536 29377 29377 45207 45207
72687 72687 15842 15842 65339 65339 19331 19331 66366 66366
72854 72854 25570 25570 86064 86064 19657 19657 94510 94510
78787 78787 68793 68793 11703 11703 07007 07007 56663 56663
18913 18913 31962 31962 17513 17513 31692 31692 33742 33742
37887 37887 36889 36889 08822 08822 06315 06315 91667 91667
77937 77937 59009 59009 51757 51757
K-BYE

Re:OUTGOING

[LilGuy]

Your first program stole all my credit card numbers?! Look out zero-cool...

Additional info on the story

[Devistater]

Are we going to start have to mention that SCO owns us when we talk about me, myself and I? I think that if anyone has a trademark claim on ME it would be microsoft lol. (you can see the TM symbol next to "Me" in the SCO press release).

Some direct quotes from the SCO press release.

        "Becoming a Me Inc. Sales Agent requires no technical skills or training and no investment other than a smart phone and a subscription to Me Inc. digital services. With these two simple things, a sales agent can earn up to hundreds or thousands of dollars per sale in commissions and subscription annuities generated by each account they sign up."

        "One of my main goals as the mayor of Provo City is to use technology to bless the lives of Provo residents, and Me Inc. is simply and effectively allowing me to do that," said Lewis K. Billings, mayor of Provo, Utah. "Me Inc. is an incredible technology, one which I plan to use continually throughout my term as it dramatically enhances my ability to personally reach constituents."

BTW, /. editors removed a link from my story. I'll put that and a few more here:
MLM= Multi-Level Marketing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing
Pyramid Scheme:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme

Thats basically what SCO is doing, a MLM/pyramid scheme.
Whats funny is that SCO's is a Utah based company, and Utah is where a huge percentage of MLM stuff originates.
I've even heard that one of the ppl who was on SCO's board was involved with starting a MLM a while back so this may be where Darl got the idea

Most MLM/Pyramid schemes are outright scams and illigal. Some few are not, if they actually sell a legitimate product. They are also the cause of a huge amount of spam.

BTW: In case there's any doubt, I'm NOT advocating this. I hate spam, scams and schemes. I just think its a stark example of how far SCO has fallen, and I want people to be aware of what shady things they are trying to do.

Re:Additional info on the story

[teasea]

Actually, it's 'Me Inc.' they are claiming copyright on. Still dumb, just felt like being clear.

Re:Additional info on the story

[Devistater]

Yeah they are.
But, my submission says trademark not copyright.
Read the press release, they have "MeTM" in there. So that implies they are trademarking the term "Me"

Re:Additional info on the story

[Anonymous Coward]

If anyone has a trademark on me, than that's ME!

Re:Additional info on the story

[Arandir]

MLMs and pyramid schemes are two different things. To start with, MLMs are legal why pyramids are not. MLMs provide a "payoff" immediately with every sale (otherwise known as a "net profit on sales"), pyramid schemes won't give you one (or only give you a token) until you've managed to gain a certain number of filled downstream levels. MLMs send only a fraction of profit upstream, pyramids send everything upstream. Oh! And while you might not like some of their pushy salesmen, MLMs actually have useful products for sale. Amway really does have good laundry detergent. Rainbow really does have good vacumns. Avon really does have good makeup.

While MLMs have a negative reputation because of their proselytizing ways, they are not in themselves illegal, unethical or immoral.

Re:Additional info on the story

[MooseByte]

"(you can see the TM symbol next to "Me" in the SCO press release)."

Yeah, well I've got a trademark on "Bite.Me" that I'll be happy to send their way....

Re:Additional info on the story

[neurojab]

While MLMs have a negative reputation because of their proselytizing ways, they are not in themselves illegal, unethical or immoral.

They may not be illegal, but they are often involved in behavior that I would call "unethical". I know of one such MLM that offered one of my relatives a "Job", and had them show up for a series of "interviews" that were really sales presentations. They make the "interviewee" give all their personal information and many references in order to get this "job". Then they turn around ask the "interviewee" for money in order to pay for "training". Meanwhile before the "interviewee" is trained, they're calling all the "references" and trying to get them to join the scheme as well, and if they won't join, they try to sell them products. All this is done under the pretext of offering a legitimate job, when really they're trying to sell someone on joining in on the scheme. The interviewee then has to perform the same con job on a few other unsuspecting "applicants" in order to get them into it. The money flows upwards in an MLM, so you can't make any appreciable money without doing significant recruiting. That's where the problem is- The average sales agent, finding themselves in the company of friends that are not interested in joining, is quite likely to turn to unethical recruiting practices in order to support their cash flow.

So while these schemes are technically not illegal, they often do breed unethical behavior in practice, much more than a traditional business model. They're only profitable because they're able to dupe enough people into becoming sales agents, who then have to dupe other people into also becoming agents, and so forth. Illegal or not, ethics is more subjective, and I'd place them squarely in the "unethical" category.

Re:Additional info on the story

[Thing 1]

I agree with both you and your other responder. I want to give my experience in the most recent MLM I've participated in, which I almost didn't since I had done one or two before and learned my lesson.

This one is called Pre-Paid Legal. It's basically "legal insurance", in that you pay $27 a month and get complete access to attorneys. Not everything is free, but if it's not covered you get a 25% discount on the hourly rate which means generally after less than the first hour (per month of course) you're saving money (attorneys fees average around $200, depending on your location).

I am a very happy member, and am not really interested in selling any more since I'm working again. I will say that the service has more than paid for itself tenfold since I began using it (in benefits, that is, not in income!).

What I did want to add, though, was the nature of the payments. It cost $149 for me to become an Associate (costs may be different now; that was a few years ago), in addition to $10 for the paperwork, and $27 a month for the service (you can sell it without being a member, but why would you? -- it's a tough sale, "I want you to purchase this thing I don't believe in for myself."), but then there was a "Fast Start" seminar which gave me back $100 (incentive to train is always good), and then every sale that I made brought me $75 within a few days -- even though the new member wouldn't have contributed $75 total into their account until their third month!

Obviously, if people cancelled then the associate's account was debited; I don't recall the time frame, I think it was 6 months or a year that the member had to remain a member.

I don't recall what the benefits were to growing your organization (i.e., how much you get paid when a direct downline gets his $75), but I do know that there were a few millionaires at the meetings I attended, who spend the bulk of their time training their downline. These are also the types of people who sign major corporations' HR departments to provide Pre-Paid Legal services to their employees (much greater return, for slightly more work than an individual sale). They were also pulling in big bucks from their organizations' efforts (which is one reason they spent so much time on training -- the idea being "we all succeed together", even if some animals are more equal than others).

All the above is to show that there are mutually beneficial organizations which successfully use a tiered sales methodology. Of course, I didn't do so well financially, but then I write code, not sales pitches. (And I would have done much worse financially if I had used pay-by-the-hour attorneys to help me with my issues.)

(PS Love the Firefly quote but I think you're missing two commas. At least, that's how it sounds, and the "notably" seems like it should be set apart, anyway.)

(PPS I'm shorting SCO on the open tomorrow.)

Re:Additional info on the story

[k98sven]

Most MLM/Pyramid schemes are outright scams and illigal. Some few are not, if they actually sell a legitimate product. They are also the cause of a huge amount of spam.

Not always the case. In a lot of places, MLM schemes have been found in court to be illegal despite the fact that they've been selling a product. It hinges on how much of the revenue is from actual product sales.

If only a small fraction of the money moving around is from sales and the vast majority is from recruiting new members, then it's still a pyramid scheme.

Re:Additional info on the story

[CaptainZapp]

I just think its a stark example of how far SCO has fallen

Yeah, I could never imagine that you could fall any lower then the average time share sales man.

I guess I was wrong.

Re:Additional info on the story

[DrXym]

I disagree. There might be actual products for sale in a MLM means that a very large percentage of people will lose money. This is not because they are lazy or "quitters" but simply because of mathematical certainty. It is next to impossible to recruit hundreds in an already saturated market and sell them products which are no better or cheaper than those from a store. As the people at the bottom of the heap always outnumber the people above them it means the majority lose.

Besides most profits in an MLM don't even come from the products anyway, they come from recruiting others and junk motivational courses. Since that is reality, losing is a virtual certainty. Even if you did manage through some miracle to recoup your investment by selling products, it certainly wouldn't pay for your time, the courses, the products you had to buy from your uplink, the damage done to your relationships etc. The only winners in such schemes are the immoral scumbags who set them up.

MLMs are poison, pure and simple. They promise riches, most people will get rags. By design.

Re:Additional info on the story

[Jussi K. Kojootti]

It wasn't a scam for you, but it _will_ be a scam for some people. At some point in time there are no people left who want to buy the insurance, but the company (and the "associates") will still keep telling people "Now is the time to get in the business -- you'll make thousands in a couple of days".

Re:Additional info on the story

[Thing 1]

Well, what I meant to say was that the sales aspect was something of a scam -- I never really made any money.

However, the product that they have to sell (legal insurance) was well worth the money I spent on it. I would have been better off not trying to sell it though.

Re:Additional info on the story

[teasea]

Now there is irony. I'm trying to clarify something and I say copyright instead of trademark. Doh!

Didn't see the "MeTM". I just went to the bottom and saw what they claimed trademarks on.

I vow to never again post while in a drunken stupor unless I really feel like it ;)

Re:Additional info on the story

[Arandir]

Sigh. The concept of MLM is not unethical. That some specific MLMs may be in practice is beside the point. I'm sure that there are some unethical bakeries out there as well, but that does not make the concept of "bakery" unethical.

Then they turn around ask the "interviewee" for money in order to pay for "training".

Actually, that part is illegal. You're not talking about any of the legal MLMs out there (Avon, Fuller Brush, etc.).

Re:Additional info on the story

[Arandir]

Nonsense. If you sell a $15 dollar box of soap at a 20% margin, you have just make $3 for yourself. This is a mathematical certainty. It doesn't matter whether you are in an MLM or not, because it is an actual bona fide sale.

Re:Additional info on the story

[neurojab]

OK, I was a bit strong in my condemnation of all MLMs. It's possible that some supervise the activities of their recruiters, and do what they can to enforce ethics. If the new recruit is made completely aware of what's going on and how the system works before they are asked to buy in, and no promises are made of vast riches, I suppose that's not unethical. I've yet to see that, however. IMO it's unethical to try to get people to buy in to one of these without explaining how the system works, and that it's totally unlike a traditional job. The specific MLM I was referring to is supposedly legal, and yet clearly attempts to pull the wool over the eyes of new recruits. It's called "Primerica".

Re:Additional info on the story

[DrXym]

Whooppeee a whole $3 "profit". You'll be rolling in money in no time, especially with the massive potential for door to door soap selling. I put "profit" in quotes since that doesn't cover your time, fuel or expenses, or all the crap you must buy from Amway to sell that soap, or the fact that the is a miniscule market for door to door sales is already saturated, or that more often than not you'll be ordering stuff for yourself because you can't shift it onto others, or that anyone interested in selling soap could buy it wholesale with no other costs.

But what a deal! It's so great you'll feel compelled to recruit other suckers into the scheme with you. After all, what makes more sense than to recruit people who are competing with you for the same sales. But now you've got yourself downline right? You won't be selling as much soap anymore, but you'll be able to sell them a bunch of shit like motivational courses and seminars. What a deal!

Re:Additional info on the story

[Arandir]

Whack!
If all you ever sell is one box of soap, then of course you'll never make any money! It doesn't matter if you're in MLM, or are the owner of a Soap-Is-Us franchise in the megamall. If you think you only have to make one sale per lifetime to reach Easy Street, you're stupider than you look.
<cluestick>Whack!</cluestick>

Re:Additional info on the story

[DrXym]

Actually it does matter if you're in an MLM or a franchise. A franchise is designed to be a viable business model where the franchisee is able to make money from selling products under a brand, usually in a certain territory. Contracts are signed by mutual assent with lawyers present stating the expectations of each party. One expectation that McDonalds and other franchise do not have is that 95% of its franchisees will fail. Why? because it damages their brand. A franchiser doesn't want a single one of them to fail. Franchisees make damned sure too when signing the paper that their business model is sound.

Whereas an MLM gives you no guarantees. Suckers attend a sales pitch, slap down money and think the money will roll in. It doesn't with boxes of soap if they flogged themselves to death trying. The profit model is not designed around selling soap or other products. The profit model doesn't even take into account fuel, time expenses and the training crap that is practically mandatory for members. It's around recruiting others as quickly as possible. The products for what they're worth in MLM are all that separate it from being a pyramid scheme. The people at the bottom rungs cannot make a profit because the margins are low and the market is saturated. They are guaranteed to lose money unless they recruit others. The model depends on the people at the bottom losing money to pay the ones above them. Failure in an MLM such as Amway is a virtual certainty unless you happen to be starting in virgin territory where no one knows how these schemes work. Which rules out most of the world.

The reason why everyone hates SCO

[LDMackSAE]

Not only do we have to put up with their legal nonsense, but now they're promoting a spam over cell phone marketing scheme.
I'd like to know how they're still in business with all the lawyer fees they've racked up.

Re:The reason why everyone hates SCO

[kfg]

I'd like to know how they're still in business with all the lawyer fees they've racked up.

a)They cut a deal to cap their legal fees at $31 million, plus a contingency fee should they should they win a case. They paid $12.6 million (the outstanding at the time) down and $2 million a quarter until December when the $31 mil was scheduled to be paid off.

b)Just because they cut the checks doesn't mean that they are the ultimate source of the money. A couple years ago the Big Mc said in an interview that one of SCO's motivations in filing these suits was that they were approached by other companies and asked to do what they could to "monitize Linux." We don't know, like, fer sure, just who these companies are, but it might be interesting to look at who has been cutting SCO really, really big checks for really, really dubious license rights.

Hint: They both have a capital S in their names; and they've both used the SCO case to promote indemnification FUD to promote sales of their own software.

KFG

Re:The reason why everyone hates SCO

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's a link on ZDNet for all the non-believers

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5172426.html

Re:Don't forget...

[grub]

Beautiful. I was starting to miss you.

They've hit rock bottom

[Shadow Wrought]

And started to dig. Now that profits through extended litigation seem to be a non-starter I guess a pyramid scheme is the next best thing. After this they can probably go ahead and drop all pretense and just start defrauding people directly.

Re:They've hit rock bottom

[Mister Transistor]

Cripes.

At this rate, next week they'll be robbing 7-11's and jacking old ladies!

Re:They've hit rock bottom

[Anonymous Coward]

You forgot Nigerian scams.

Re:They've hit rock bottom

[sgtrock]

A guy I work with loves to quote a fake Chinese proverb:

"Man digging hole should drop shovel when he can't see out!" :lol:

Sue me

[erkokite]

ME ME ME ME ME ME So sue me

Re:Sue me

[Anonymous Coward]

What about you? Has anyone trademarked that yet?

If not, I do hereby claim first dibs on the word "YOU", "you", "You", "U", "u", etc.

Anyone caught violating my trademark without paying royalties will be sued a la SCO style.

Geez, while I'm at it, how about "I"? and "Anyone", "Someone", "Anybody", "Nobody", etc.

Anyone have claims on those yet? If not, I hereby claim copyright, trademark, trade secret, patents, etc. on any and all of the above words and all variations thereof, et cetera.

Now all I have to do is wait for those royalties cheques to start rolling in...Hey, M$, wanna buy a few million licenses to use my words?

Special deal just for you(TM): only $699 each for a limited time only. Buy now and avoid the rush. Yes, you(TM) too can have the use of these and many other words, including doors, windows (oops, guess you can't use that one), etc.

Re:Sue me

[Anonymous Coward]

ME ME ME ME ME ME
Better 'GNU' than 'Me'? :-)

I guess they are going to continue until they find a business model annoying enough that somebody will be forced to buy them out. I can just see Eric Idle dressed up as Darl and saying, 'I'll not sue you regarding Linux for a pound. Anyone? Anyone? Right. I'll not spam your cellphone for a pound.'

Re:Sue me

[rrohbeck]

ME ME ME ME ME ME So sue me

Just watch out! Next they're going to patent the bit strings 0x4d 0x65 and 0x4d 0x45 (and 0x6d 0x65 too of course), then you're going to pay dearly!

(I typed "darly" first. Must have been a Freudian typo.)

a sign of desperation

[mytrip]

This borders on amusing to show how desperate these vermin are. This is almost like Sun going into the online chat business...

You forgot...

[chillmost]

Spam, no technical skills, no training, subscription annuities...

????

Profit!!

Don't forget

[Anonymous Coward]

to pay your $899 fee you cock smoking teabaggers.

Spammers Delight

[Mel Tom]

New Spammer on the Block. it sucks.......

Now SCO can sue Me!

[Anonymous Coward]

Heck, I have just used their trademark, they will sue Me!
(again! I should stop using that damned word!)

Re:Now SCO can sue Me!

[Scarletdown]

Heck, I have just used their trademark, they will sue Me!

Instead of that word, I'll just use Nee! instead.

What the fuck?

[Tackhead]

A few years ago, someone described SCO as having gone "completely mad" and asked "what the fuck".

I'll skip a bit - and basically cut and paste the core of my response, which was to say they'd gone far past "completely utterly loony" and "what the fucking fuck fuck", and that the proper question was...

Is SCO completely, utterly, apeshit, goatshit and batshit, 649-megabytes-short-of-a-Debian-ISO, stark, slavering, buggo?!? Fuck! Are the fucking fuckers fucking well fucked? What the fuck? What the fucking fuck fuck? What the figgety fucking fuckity fuck fuck?

In addition to receiving the award for The Most Gratuitous Use of the Word "Fuck" in a Slashdot Posting, I now hereby ask for the individual who described the Grand Canyon as a "ditch" to step aside and yield the Understatement of the Century award.

I rule. Me, unincorporated.

Re:What the fuck?

[SleepyHappyDoc]

I doubt it.

Re:What the fuck?

[pair-a-noyd]

Hey!

You left out a few fucks there. Had you thrown in just 2 more fucks your post would have been modded +5 insightful..

Thanks.

Re:What the fuck?

[complete loony]

They sure have.

Re:What the fuck?

[HermanAB]

As a witty magistrate once said: "Fine the fucker a fucking Pound...".

Re:What the fuck?

[mnmn]

Fucking hell.

Re:What the fuck?

[Anonymous Coward]

OMG!!!!!!!! I almost pissed myself on this one!!!! Then I clicked on the google link for the word "fuck" on slashdot, and DID PISS MYSELF! I have to go hit the head now :o)

Re:What the fuck?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bob? Is that you?

Re:What the fuck?

[Anonymous Coward]

You can't say 'me'. SCO are gonna sue your ass for that. It says so in the Linux kernel source.

Re:What the fuck?

[Anonymous Coward]

SCO already bagged the "Understatement of the Millennium" award, according to this post...

"Me." is not trademarked.

[gdulli]

"Me." is not trademarked. Read the damn text you posted yourself.

Re: "Me." is not trademarked.

[Volante3192]

SCO Millenium Edition? --Volante

Re:"Me." is not trademarked.

[Devistater]

Read it yourself. They mention "Me, Inc" TM sure, but at at least one point they specifically say "Me"TM without the Inc part, thus implying they have trademarked the term "Me".

Re:"Me." is not trademarked.

[Anonymous Coward]

But if you do the search yourself at the USPTO, you see that "ME, INC" and "ME INC" have been trade marked. You'll also find at least three registrations (by three other companies) for just "ME"

I've got only this to say:

[Billy the Mountain]

SCO fills a badly needed void!

Re:I've got only this to say:

[Anonymous Coward]

" SCO fills a badly needed void!" Goatse?

EdgeClick platform

[generic-man]

It seems like they're also rolling out a new sort of platform:

'At the core of the EdgeClick platform is an innovative service-oriented architecture (SOA) server called an "edge processor" that connects many types of end-point devices -- including mobile phones, PCs and others -- to robust digital network services for communications, collaboration, control, information access and transactional processing. Integrated with this technology are facilities for automated service branding, monetization and business federation. These facilities make seamless the development, marketing, provisioning and billing of high-value, high-impact digital services.'

The blurb spun this as "mass text messages to cell phones." Are there any positive uses for this, like informing schoolchildren about snow days and such?

Re:EdgeClick platform

[Devistater]

https://www.edgeclickpark.com/meinc/app
My bad, its not text message spam as my submitted article stats. Its pre-recorded phone call spam
"Shout
Use Shout for broadcasting any kind of voice message or pre-recorded audio message up to one minute long. Announcements, updates, alerts, instructions, motivational messages--whatever gets the job done. "

Whats ironic, is that most types of automatic robotic advertising is illigal already.

As for school closings, thats pretty well publicized right now on websites and on local tv & radio news.

I suppose that this could be used for legitimate purposes like company announcements and such, but really, they can already do that with text messages sent from computer from email.

And quotes like this from the website:
"Me Inc. Sales Agents can earn lucrative recurring commissions for themselves or their organizations by selling these rich mobility services to others."
"Looking for extra income? Need a recurring revenue stream to support your organization? Then the Me Inc. Sales Agent Program is for you.

If you're a Me Inc. account holder or subscriber in good standing, you're eligible to earn lucrative recurring commissions simply for referring new Me Inc. customers to us.

The Me Inc. services practically sell themselves. Once somebody sees them, they wonder how they ever did without them."
And from SCO's press release:
"Becoming a Me Inc. Sales Agent requires no technical skills or training and no investment other than a smart phone and a subscription to Me Inc. digital services. With these two simple things, a sales agent can earn up to hundreds or thousands of dollars per sale in commissions and subscription annuities generated by each account they sign up."

do NOT inspire confidance that this will develope as a legitimate business. If they did this without all the MLM aspects they might very well have succeeded in capturing a niche market. Instead I predict that the MLM portion will alienate people and businesses (except spammers).

Re:EdgeClick platform

[Anonymous Coward]

some interesting posts about edgelink have been posted on the Yahoo SCOX forum. Checkout messages 350104 by jcauseyfd

"to not be anonymous and not have to worry about maintaining anonymity. I saw the post last night about searches for Edgelink with the Utah Department of Commerce. Below is the list of principals for Edgelink Solutions, Inc.:

Andrea McBride (Director, Treasurer, and Vice President)
Gary J. Cooper (Director, President, Secretary)
Gordon Kimball (Director)
Jill Marsala (Director)
Thomas P. Roberts (Registered Agent)

Have fun cross referencing these!

JCausey "

Re:EdgeClick platform

[Devistater]

McBride? Thats going to be very hard, who's the guy with that name again? Derek? David? Runs some company called SOC or something?
Isn't this his wife?
[/sarcasm]
I wonder if that was done to have a tiny bit of distance between him and this company.

Re:EdgeClick platform

[donutz]

My bad, its not text message spam as my submitted article stats. Its pre-recorded phone call spam

Well thank goodness. Regular spam is bad enough, text message spam even worse, but text message spam from SCO? Icky.

Re:EdgeClick platform

[The_Wilschon]

It sounds to me like they've reinvented the so-called "electrical connector" and/or "wireless adapter".

Re:EdgeClick platform

[Devistater]

My double bad. I re-read the press release:
"The Shout digital service allows users to communicate personally with groups of various sizes via a text or audio message created quickly and simply from a smart phone."
So mass text msgs OR mass audio msgs. So I was partially correct in the original story :)

Re:EdgeClick platform

[OmegaBlac]

Are there any positive uses for this, like informing schoolchildren about snow days and such?

Like reminding all Linux users to send in their $699 to a cash-bleeding SCO? Oh you meant positives for everyone other than SCO nevermind...

Re:EdgeClick platform

[RomulusNR]

Amber alerts.

Re:EdgeClick platform

[Jason Earl]

Can anyone tell me how this is fancier than setting up mailman and creating a mailing list? I am honestly baffled.

Re:EdgeClick platform

[OwnedByTwoCats]

On my cell phone, I have to pay a nickel for every text message I receive. So far, it's only been my 8-year-old daughter, and I'm working to encourage her to read any way I can.

But paying a nickel for SCO's text message ads? That's criminal.

Could someone help me out?

[bobcat7677]

I can't seem to find the place on the SCO website where I enter my E-Gold payment to "invest" in their program... It IS is HYIP...right?

MLM??????

[Nonillion]

"Yesterday, SCO announced a new MLM called "Me Inc."

Who also read this as "Multi level marketing"

Re:MLM??????

[Devistater]

Thats the idea, its a MLM. Originally that word was linked to multi level marketing wiki article in my submission. /. editors removed that.

Re:MLM??????

[Geoffreyerffoeg]

Who also read this as "Multi level marketing"

Everyone.

Re:MLM??????

[Overzeetop]

I dont' know about you guys, but I was ready to believe SCO was about to lump itself in with Amway. I mean, they're at the bottom, why not just fornicate with whomever happens to be there too?

Hi, I need your help

[Devistater]

My name is Dalr McBrid and I've from Nigera. My company has $20,000,000 overseas that we wnt to brang to Ameracas to invest. We will give 10% to anyone who wills help we transfer it.

Grammar errors du jour

[Rambo]

"Adoption rates of these devices is expected to continue..."
"The Utah Jazz used the Shout service to record message from a player..."

In other news Unga the caveman was said to have remarked "Unga no like me SCO no more!"

Or something like that. I can hardly wait for the flushed, quivering press release announcing a partnership with Amway/Quixtar/Pampered Chef next.

From the Article

[Orrin Bloquy]

"The company is actually incorporated dba Me, Inc, an abbreviation of Me, Inc. Asset Management Portfolio Fund, thereafter referred to as MEIncAMPF."

Re:From the Article

[Anonymous Coward]

I almost wet myself laughing when I realised what that said.
I would've asked "who do they think they're kidding?", but this is a bunch of people from Utah we're talking about...

Re:From the Article

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, now, not all of us who live in Utah smoke the type of crack or peyote that they're passing around down in Lindon. Don't let people like McBride and Merkey give all of the residents of this state a bad name...

Re:From the Article

[Anonymous Coward]

In German, Hitler's book is Mein Kampf, not Mein Campf. But where in TFA is that gem? I'd love to see the reference...

Re:From the Article

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, and what about his Utahian?
From the SCO press release:
Provo, Utah City Mayor, Lewis K. Billings... [is one of the] early adopters of Me Inc. digital services.

"One of my main goals as the mayor of Provo City is to use technology to bless the lives of Provo residents, and Me Inc. is simply and effectively allowing me to do that," said Lewis K. Billings, mayor of Provo, Utah. "Me Inc. is an incredible technology, one which I plan to use continually throughout my term as it dramatically enhances my ability to personally reach constituents."

Re:From the Article

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, OK, add the Provo City Mayor to the list. That's still only 3 people. 4 if you count the guy who runs overstock.com.

SCO has a new revenue plan??

[Weaselmancer]

Let me guess. Does it involve a hidden volcano island for a lair, hijacking nuclear warheads and sending a cryptic message to NATO?

Re:SCO has a new revenue plan??

[Kremit]

Secret lair? We've been waiting for you, Mr. Powers!

Hmm.

[autopr0n]

I guess the company is totaly dead now. Heh.

Wow

[duncan bayne]

There *has* to be an avid penguin-head working for SCO in a senior position, secretly but steadily working towards the utter destruction of that company. I can't think of any other reason for a decisions as asinine as this one.

Re:Wow

[troytop]

So *that's* where Dilbert works!

Re:Wow

[Devistater]

HAHAAHHAAHAHHA OMG. I love dilbert. Man if I could mod you up I would. That is hilarious. This whole thread there's a ton of hilarious comments here. I'm practically crying I'm laughing so hard over some of them.

Who says everyone in Utah is a straight-arrow?

[Infonaut]

Obviously there's some serious glue-sniffing going on in Lindon.

Darl: "Let's see. We're a UNIX company. We're taking on the world in litigation that will very likely fail. What we need is fresh, new, out of the box thinking!"

Dude from the Mail Room: "Umm.. Mr. McBride... umm.. I have an idea. Why confine ourselves to pissing people off by suing them? I read an article about this guy in Florida who is like, mega-rich because he is a spammer. See, I think we could make stuff that would help people get rich spamming people an' stuff, and it would piss people off in the process."

Darl: "Sweet! Kid, you're brilliant! Let me put this family-sized bottle of Crazy Glue down, so I can come over and hug you."

Re:Who says everyone in Utah is a straight-arrow?

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine McBride as Edmund Blackadder and SCOs COO as Baldrick and this all start to make, in it's own way, a lot of sense. Not so much that it's a good idea, but that I can see how it happened.

uhhh...

[Tumbleweed]

What is this, a Penny Arcade strip?

Re:uhhh...

[jheath314]

I share that sentiment.

I simply refused to believe the slashdot summary, so I clicked on the links, expecting them to lead to a parody site like theonion.com. Each link I followed only increased my sense of disbelief.

Quite simply, they couldn't have followed a better course of action if their goal was to become the most reviled company in America. Bogus litigation, gratuitous attacks upon OSS, and now a pyramid/text-message spam scheme to keep the whole wreck afloat? SCO is setting a new standard for last place.

Re:uhhh...

[Devistater]

Thats probably why my SCO submission got rejected before my rewrite succeeded. I bet the editors thought I was making it up. Its one of those "truth is stranger than fiction" things. Too whack to be true, yet it is true.

Re:uhhh...

[dubl-u]

What is this, a Penny Arcade strip?

Seriously. I honestly checked to make sure that April first is still a month away. I thought SCO couldn't get more evil, but they've managed. And not by inches, either; helping MLM fuckheads is worse than enabling penis-pill spammers.

The only way justice could be done is if they all catch some new, unholy cross between syphilis and ebola.

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[TwentyQuestions]

Thats a good idea...SCO can make more money by turning all those hard copies of the Linux and Unix sorce into toilet paper! Because they have plenty of sh*t to clean up.

Mass Text Messaging Cell Phones

[Anonymous Coward]

Is my memory playing me false, or didn't Congress make that illegal?

SCO: evilness

[Anonymous Coward]

How evil can a company get?

Once Again, SCO misses the boat...

[raehl]

Obviously it would be much better to own You. than it would be to own Me.

wow

[dotpavan]

Please click here for more info (LOLZ, I aint a spam bot)

spam is a good business model

[NynexNinja]

Maybe it will pay off for them, frivilous lawsuits haven't.

misRTFA

[griffjon]

when I first read the article summary, I thought it said:

"SCO announced a new MLM called "Me Inc." suing the EdgeClick platform"

But now I see that instead they're going after cell-sms-spam, that's much more on the up-and-up

Re:misRTFA

[jbrader]

I hereby move that we place a moratorium of no less than 5 years on all "When I first read that I thought it said..." posts. All in favor?

Life insurance policy on Daryl?

[atomclock]

Are they planning on taking a life inusrance policy out on Daryl?

They should be called Hate Inc.

[JustNiz]

Amazing how they seem to be doing everything possible to get people to hate them.

Re:They should be called Hate Inc.

[Crouty]

> Amazing how they seem to be doing everything possible to get people to hate them.

It is the other way round: Once nobody likes you because you pissed off basically everybody in the target group, you don't care anymore about image and can do business nobody in their right mind would do otherwise.

SCO is off their rocker with this latest product

[mcguyver]

"We will save thousands of dollars a month" - Joe Chiavetta, CFO, Musco Food Corp

SCO loses millions ever quarter then creates a press release about a product able to save a company a few thousand dollars a month? And the product is a complete departure from everything else going on at SCO. wtf!

Secret Service OTW to SCO

[Anonymous Coward]

Dont forget the /. article earlier today about the secret service nabbing that super king spammer. Maybe they will nab SCO next? http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/28/144 1229

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[Anonymous Coward]

I would just use toilet paper. It may be more expensive, but it is worth it.

wait.. it isn't?

[zippthorne]

What does it mean then? TFA offered no clues after my half-interested skimming.

Re:wait.. it isn't?

[Devistater]

Well it was a press release, what did you expect? :)
Anyway, yes, MLM meant multi level marketing when I submitted and I had a wiki link from the word MLM to it in my submission. It got removed somewhere along the way. Here's the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing
It looks like SCO is announcing some sorta wireless thingy where you can use a smartphone (dunno how exact that differs from every cell phone I've seen that can send msgs) to send messages. Only problem is, they are setting it up like a MLM with ppl getting comission to sign others up. So it reeks of scam before they even start.

Re:wait.. it isn't?

[budgenator]

here's how it works parent company sets up a sale plan'
25% profit +
if sales is over $300, 3% bonus
if sales is over $900, 6% bonus
if sales is over $1200, 9% bonus
first guy sells $301, he makes $84.28; then he gets 3 other to do the same, they each get $84.28 from the first guy just like they would from the parent company, but first guy now gets $1204 in sales so he get $409.36 and pays out 253.84 leaving an extra $337.12.

As long as the dealers follow the rules, nobody gets hurt, a few make a big chunk of change; but normaly what happens is people get greedy, do tons of recruiting and nobody bothers to sell product and nobody makes any money. Sometimes people get stupid greedy and buy inventory that they don't have a snowballs chance in hell of selling and they lose their asses. The parent companies usualy have strict rules about excess inventory, but few follow them. Most of the horror stories you hear invovles people who get stupid greedy and blame eveerybody else for it.

I can see the commercials now

[Kelz]

Do YOU want to have financial independance, to be your own boss?! Well SCO, the famous inventors of Linux, has a great new plan for you!

Just text [sexy voice]Spam[/sv] to 44520!

[steriotype-jock]I LOVE getting all the money I could ever want, and I get all the hot chicks now![/sj>]br>
[fat black woman]Now I can finally pay off my $100000 in debts, all because of SCO's system! Thanks SCO![/fbw]

Thats right folks text [sv]spaaam[/sv] to 44520!

Re:I can see the commercials now

[sl4shd0rk]

gawt' damn I gotsta git me summadat SCO. It werked fer my brouther darrel an' his brother darrel too and now I seeins how it's werkin fer eferyone else two. They got this here real' purty ladylike voice tu'.. gawt' damn sco... git me some...yup.

Re:I can see the commercials now

[Kelz]

SCO - I'd hit it! (violently)

Three interesting things from a Utah resident

[MonsoonDawn]

1. Utah is pretty much the MLM capital of the world. This is because the state is littered with big extended families.

2. Working for or doing business with an MLM is no big deal in Utah. As a programmer I get approached to work for or with MLM's on an almost weekly basis. Since I'm not a native I know better than to ever allow one of these black marks ever appear on my resume

3. I was a local developer get-together not too long ago where there were a couple of developers who worked for SCO. They both said they were working on "wireless messaging". Now I know.

Society seriously needs...

[FlamingLaird]

... A way to force companies to just pack it in... Add the number of customers a company has to the number of people a company employes... and if you can get that many signartures plus one.. the company has to sell off all its assets, split the proceeds up among the shareholders, and have its name added to a "Never Allow" list with the Trademark office.

So a company like SCO... with no real customers... and "As of February 1, 2005 190 employees." (http://ir.sco.com/faq.cfm) We'd just need everyone who's posted in this tread so far to vote to shut them down!

They jumped the shark years ago... now they've crossed the Archeron and are trying to figure out how to pay the ferryman.

Life just got a little bit harder

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I won't just get slapped, but I'll also get sued when I say "Fuck Me" to the ladies.

10 bucks a month per service

[Anonymous Coward]

Did anyone else catch the fact that they currently have 2 services available. A Poll (voting) service and a shout service -- some kind of broadcast message service. The services are available as a subscription for 9.95 USD per service.
What a deal!

Sign up

[Anonymous Coward]

Sign up here to make oooodles of money.

Why is this company still making headlines?!

[Cybersonic]

Seriously... let them go away...

In Other News:

[Comatose51]

Slashdot nerd, Comatose51, announces plans to increase frequency of getting laid by hot women.

In the press release, Comatose51, spoke about his new Laid Me technology, which all Slashdot nerds can use to get hot women to have sex with them. At the core of the Laid Me platform is an innovative service-needed architecture (SNA) server called a "fallus" that connects to many types of end-point devices. To enable and support the rapid development and growth of Laid Me digital services, Comatose51 has introduced the Alcohol For Sex Partners Program(TM). "The best part of Laid Me is that it allows us to 'reach out and touch' those who support BYU athletics (read: cheerleaders) in real-time," said Tom Holmoe, athletic director, Brigham Young University.

I FUCK DEAD SCO CFOs

[Anonymous Coward]

Who the fuck has stock invested in these chumps? Makes me wonder how fuckin retarded they are.

Re:I FUCK DEAD SCO CFOs

[Devistater]

Someone must, it went up today after yesterdays announcment which means buying.
http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=SCOX
Except for that sudden drop at the end of today. Probably the remaining investors taking the 14 cent day's profit (it dropped yesterday, so they musta seen a good chance to buy some low price shares early today) and getting out while the getting was good just before the sudden drop before close.

Seriously, why haven't they been delisted yet? lol.

Re:I FUCK DEAD SCO CFOs

[hotfireball]

Honestly, I don't think so.

pre-paid cell phones

[Temsi]

I have a pre-paid cell phone plan that charges me 10 cents for each text message, both incoming and outgoing.
So, can I send an invoice to SCO for all the unwanted incoming messages I'll be paying for out of my pre-paid minutes?

Just who the hell are these people?

Text messaging to null?

[cazbar]

One of the apps on the Edgeclick site does mass text messages to cell phones.

I hope they don't send the messages to 'null' or they might go to this guy.

so being evil pays off

[superwiz]

Are they making news announcements in the hopes that anyone with any sense at all is already shorting their stock and that there some suckers out there who believe that there is no such thing as bad publicity and who start buying up SCO stock just in the hopes that being unscrupulous will pay off for SCO?

It's only new for SCO

[TBone]

My new company has been doing this for a while. I don't think they're going to get companies like Cingular, Alltel, Palm, BET, and a bunch of others to change platforms for the sake of a MLM gambit.

Motricity

What's wrong with them?

[sterno]

I think at this point they are on some radical experiment to see how irritating they can make themselves. Frivolous lawsuits and spam are where it starts. Next I expect they'll be sponsoring conventions for NAMBLA. "NAMBLA, powered by SCO".

Me thinks it is time for them to just put the old hoss down.

Re:What's wrong with them?

[Scarletdown]

What a horrible thought. SCO sponsoring conventions for the North American Marlon Brando Look Alikes. What is this world coming to?

Re:What's wrong with them?

[M. Baranczak]

SCO sponsoring conventions for the North American Marlon Brando Look Alikes

They coulda been a contendah...

A Plan for Review

[mnemonic_]

What will business think of next?

I thought we already knew their profit plan

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought they already had a plan for making profit.

1: buy the rights for an already-deceased version of Unix
2: sue half the world for using Linux
3: (?)
4: profit

(freely paraphrase - I don't believe they actually can count to four)

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

People need to read this, especially if they're unfamiliar with what an MLM is.

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[Devistater]

Or this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing
Which I had linked to the word MLM in my original submission.
Your link has much more detail and info though.

Fuck Me!

[Dynedain]

'nuff said.

IOU for mod point, +1 clever

[The_Wilschon]

Ah, if only I could remember where I left my mod points, I'd give you some. Forget my own head I will... Anyway, I guess I can scribble an IOU on an old receipt or something...

Re:Now SCO can sue Ni

[Devistater]

Are you one of the Knights that say Ni?

You know it's pretty bad when the article has been

[Polarism]

up for an hour and a half, and nothing has been moderated above 2.

Re:You know it's pretty bad when the article has b

[Devistater]

Well depends if you count karma or not:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=178826&cid=148 22455
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=178826&cid=148 22398
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=178826&cid=148 22528

I have a suggestion for increasing their revenue..

[Dark_Lord_Prime]

How about, "don't spend all your funds on frivolous lawsuits"?

You'll be amazed how much money you'd have if it wasn't all going into trying to mug other companies via the legal system.

Oh SCO... You leave me speechless

[coastin]

Must keep head from exploding... nope, not working.

BAM!

Mine!

[Anonymous Coward]

First their saying "mine" with the whole lawsuit thing, and now they're trademarking the word "Me." Aren't these the first words small children learn to use effectively?

Litigate SPAM and Pyramid Schemes great!

[piltdownman84]

Am I the only one that thinks good might come of this? I'd expect lawsuits against other spam and Multi-Level-Market companies by years end for infringing on their intellectual properties.

Sure SCO is scum, but if scum fights scum what do you get? less scum?

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[poopdeville]

Reading that will lower your literacy. Yes, it is that bad.

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[rrohbeck]

1. Use company with ruined reputation as umbrella
2. Establish novel MLM system
3. Get endorsements from local politicians
4. Sell SCOX shares at a slight premium
5. Profit!

From the edgeclickpark.com site

[coastin]

FAQ
Q: What phones are Me Inc Applications supported on?
A: At this time, the palmOne Treo 650 is the only supported cell phone compatible with the current release of the Me Inc applications.

Whew, I was about to throw My Kyocera 7135 out of the window!

I'm not laughing.

[twitter]

Let's see, a Microsoft funded front company is looking for "partners" to spam cell phones? I can't wait till Bill passes on his shit list to these losers and all sorts of text message spam starts showing up on my cell phone by "accident". It will be easy to ignore because no one I know ever sends text messages.

Re:I'm not laughing.

[Devistater]

Unless you use one of the majority of phone companies that are now charging to receive text messages.

Re:I'm not laughing.

[spun]

It will be easy to ignore because no one I know ever sends text messages. Yeah, I'm over 30, too. We'll be the ones laughing when all the kids get arthritis of the thumbs...

Re:I'm not laughing.

[rk]

Yeah, it's not like this did any damage to our generation's thumbs.

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[Anonymous Coward]

Reading that will lower your literacy.

Oh, good. I've been looking everywhere for a way to fit in online.

Buzzword o' meter pegged!

[Devistater]

Anyone else read some of the press release? Look at the kinds of buzz word/marketing speak they put in there:

"Innovative Technology Platform"
"a Transactional Portal to Support the Entire Digital Services 'Ecosystem'"
"an innovative service-oriented architecture"
"automated service branding"
"business federation"
"high-value, high-impact digital services"
"service grid network architecture"
"suite of rich mobility services"
"web-enabled desktop" (lots of non web enabled ones out there I guess)
"easy-to-use mobile polling service"
"dramatically enhances my ability to personally reach constituents."
"effective tool in increasing the communication and collaboration"
"The edge processor creates a secure environment for information access and control by off-loading information from lightweight mobile devices and performing the computational heavy lifting in a secure and stable environment. This added layer of processing power and security enables smart phones and other mobile devices to be the high-powered productivity tools that everyone wants."
"Distributed EdgeClick edge processors communicate automatically with each other, forming a service grid network for flexible, secure, robust, deployment and management of software, servers, and other infrastructure assets. "
"The EdgeClick edge processor will also be available soon for on-premise deployment by enterprise and third-party solution partners, thus enabling them to securely extend existing business application functionality to mobile devices such as smart phones and PDAs."
"SCO owns the core UNIX operating system, originally developed by AT&T/Bell Labs and is the exclusive licensor to Unix-based system software providers.
Headquartered in Lindon, Utah, SCO has a worldwide network of thousands of resellers and developers. SCO Global Services provides reliable localized support and services to partners and customers."

That last I threw in there for laughs.

My eyes are glazing over, I cant tell how many more there are in that single press release.

BTW, is it bad if I can understand most of this market speek?

Bonus for those who read this far, a market speak web economy phrase generator:
http://www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html
Some examples:
productize frictionless deliverables
incubate proactive action-items
exploit best-of-breed convergence

Re:Buzzword o' meter pegged!

[sconeu]

BTW, is it bad if I can understand most of this market speek?

Yes, it is bad. Very bad. Very, very, bad.

Or to put it in market speek:

The synergy of the end user's comprehension of the management communications could lead to negative consequences.

Re:Buzzword o' meter pegged!

[DrXym]

And they used all those buzzwords for what can be described simply - "we wrote some code that allows you to spam people".

Re:Buzzword o' meter pegged!

[lma]

Yeah, but what does it do? Larry

Re:Buzzword o' meter pegged!

[Anonymous Coward]

BTW, is it bad if I can understand most of this market speek?

No, its bad that you can understand it and that you don't know how to spell speak

Re:Buzzword o' meter pegged!

[Pontiac]

Yeah I read the press release..

All I got other than a headache was it lets you build ??? for your customers..
No specifics.. Just hype.

I still don't have a clue what it does.

Re:Buzzword o' meter pegged!

[Devistater]

You know I mispelled that word on purpose right? Although my spelling is generally atrocious, I do know how to spell speak.

Aw, geez...

[Karl Cocknozzle]

...is it April 1 already? Man, I hate April Fool's Day on Slashdot...

amazing technobabble

[fermion]

To be fair, I think we must pause to appreciate the amount of techno crud in the press release. I think of myself as a person who can comprehend pretty well, and cut through the distracting text meant to hide the reality, but this document is a master work of saying nothing.

I mean, it is hard to pin down exactly what they have as a shipping product and what they have as an idea. It this as simple as a stadard shopping cart backend with the ability to handly multiple commisions? Is it truly a sales tracking application? It is a platform on which services can be distributed, or merely offered. And given the various standards, and closed cell networks, will this actually work on real phones?

In the end, as usual, the product from SCO is the entertaining copy. The product itself is copied out of a five year old text book.

Mini Me, Inc.?

[coastin]

If I sign up to be a Me, Inc. reseller would that make me a MinMe?

Skill Set

[LordLucless]

Becoming a Me Inc. Sales Agent requires no technical skills or training

So why would you be a Sales Agent when you could go for CEO with the same skill set?

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[HermanAB]

Yeah, they should recycle those 250000 documents that IBM sent them. That should give a serious boost to their bottom line.

Isn't this illegal?

[gstoddart]

I thought it was illegal to send mass messages to cell phones since it's owner pay.

For the same reason it's supposed to be illegal to spam a fax machine.

SCO needs some serious beatings if they're starting to get into MLMs which mass-message cell phones.

Toss me a bone here?

[Kadin2048]

Hint: They both have a capital S in their names; and they've both used the SCO case to promote indemnification FUD to promote sales of their own software.

All right, I'll bite. I'm a bit tired and brain dead for riddles ... any chance you can name names?

Re:Toss me a bone here?

[Jaysyn]

Sun & MircoSoft.

I don't think MS has capitalized the S since the early 90's though...

Jaysyn

Re:Toss me a bone here?

[kfg]

I don't think MS has capitalized the S since the early 90's though...

Sorry, I'm old. I didn't mean to be, it just sort of happened while I was paying attention to other things.

KFG

Re:Toss me a bone here?

[Zeinfeld]

When the conspiracy theories start to include Bill Gates and Scott McNeally its time to go into business selling tin foil hats.

$150 buys you an entry level franchise in tin foil hat inc. You get 25% sales commission plus a 20% referal fee for associates you sign up.

Re:Toss me a bone here?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seeing as one of the latest rounds in Subpoena's includes Microsoft, perhaps you could sell some of those beany's o IBM's legal team.

The name you're looking for ...

[Anonymous Coward]

... is "Shit For Brains".

Increase revenue?

[iminplaya]

What did they do? Merge with the law firm of Dewey, Cheatum, And Howe? I suppose the plan is more lawsuits.

Excellent link

[Anonymous Coward]

Unfortunately there's a lot of suckers out there who won't read it and think that MLM will solve all their financial problems.

Exactly

[LeonGeeste]

This has got to be a joke. SCO ... openly admitting their doing something which amounts to spamming and multi-level marketing, and the trakemarking or copyrighting or whatever the term "Me"*? April is still a month away guys (and a day).

*Yes, I know they're "only trakemarking 'Me' in relation to their service". Except they won't. They'll go after any marginally related use so they can maybe for a settlement from the skittish... if indeed this is all true.

Come on, SCO can't be *that* stupid.

Money Making Idea for SCO

[Anonymous Coward]

SCO Gurls Gone Wild!!! I know, I know. You're all amazed by my marketing savvy. But hey, everyone likes porn, right?

Well...

[interactive_civilian]

Tackhead politely asks:

Is SCO completely, utterly, apeshit, goatshit and batshit, 649-megabytes-short-of-a-Debian-ISO, stark, slavering, buggo?!? Fuck! Are the fucking fuckers fucking well fucked? What the fuck? What the fucking fuck fuck? What the figgety fucking fuckity fuck fuck?

Well, it certainly illustrates the diversity of the word.

Re:Well...

[Anonymous Coward]

Naw, looks like all noun/adjective usage to me. You can use it as verbs and other things too. Check out that google search line where its used in some other /. postings.

Re:Well...

[interactive_civilian]

ever seen "Boondock Saints"?

Re:Well...

[runderwo]

You mean it illustrates the utility of the word.

Ziiinggg!

[martin-boundary]

Nooobody excpexts the SCO Revenue Increase!

Planning to increase revenue?

[bergeron76]

Most companies are past the "planning stage".

But it's nice to see them entering the marketplace.

The name is perfect for them.

[merc]

Except they should have called it "MeFirst!".

From the Groklaw Page

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

SCO is making much of their new Service oriented Arcitechture (SOA). Someone posted the following AC to the Groklaw page on this:

SOA = STD in Dutch
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, February 27 2006 @ 10:31 AM EST
SOA = Sexueel Overdraagbare Aandoening, translated: Sexually Transferable Disease..
Something you definitively do not want, hehe..

Re:From the Groklaw Page

[leomekenkamp]

A lot of fellow dutchmen make the same error, but actually it is spelled 'seksueel', no 'x' in there...

With the Double Indemnity option.

[Duhavid]

Easy as falling off a train!

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Sir:

I'm sorry to inform you that our Ponzi scheme is a patented business method filed with the USPTO as part of our overall suite of patents on the use of legal suits to defend profitable revenue streams for our valued partners.

If you wish to become a partner, please contact us as soon as possible or we shall find it necessary to pursue legal recourse against your infringeing use of our valuable intellectual property without obtaing prior authorization.

Sincerely yours,
J. T. Fogbottom, Esq.

representing Santa Cruz Operations since they paid me a bunch of money.

Street Cents and Me, Inc

[The Hobo]

Street Cents (a Canadian television show) has had the name "Me, Inc" for a while, here's a guide where they use it, it's basically people starting their own little business

Sue, Sue, Sue, Shit, Shit, Shit, Spamem!

[PacketScan]

If you can't beat them SPAM the PISS outa them.

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[farrellj]

I was more suprised by the fact that it wasn't an announcement that they SCO was merging with the RIAA, as their business models seem to similar...Who needs pyramids when you can just sue people to make money!

ttyl

SCO ME!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, I've been saying "SCO ME!" at work instead of "oh fuck me!" for years. Totally suitable that they trademark it.

Oct 1998 .. this "sort-of" marketing can....

[3seas]

...be applied to Free Open Source Software.

Thought its not quite MLM..

http://threeseas.net/mind/CDM.html
though I didn't include a date in the text, the file is dated OCT 14 1998 on teh server.

and there is this too:

http://groups.google.com/group/gnu.misc.discuss/ms g/d46560fa21fbc352?hl=en&

Yes, this is already illegal

[TCPALaw]

Such messages violate the existing law, and the recepient is entitled to a mandatory minimum of $500 per message.

Acacia Mortgage in Arizona tried this.. adn they are facing several million dollars in court under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). It states at 47 USC 227(b):

• It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States or
  any person outside the United States if the recipient is within
  the United States--
  (A) to make any call (other than a call made for emergency
  purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called
  party) using any automatic telephone dialing system or an
  artificial or prerecorded voice--
  (i) to any emergency telephone line (including any
  ``911'' line and any emergency line of a hospital, medical
  physician or service office, health care facility, poison
  control center, or fire protection or law enforcement
  agency);
  (ii) to the telephone line of any guest room or patient
  room of a hospital, health care facility, elderly home, or
  similar establishment; or
  (iii) to any telephone number assigned to a paging
  service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile
  radio service, or other radio common carrier service, or any
  service for which the called party is charged for the call;
  

Joffee v. Acacia Nat'l Mtg. Corp., -- P.3d --, 2005 TCPA Rep 1381, 2005 WL 2303700 (Az. App, Sep 21, 2005) held that SMS messages to cell phones violated this law. The court stated: "27 Here, Joffe received two SMS messages from Acacia. Acacia used its computers to generate the messages and direct them to an e-mail address provided to Joffe by his carrier that was made up of Joffe's ten digit cellular telephone number and his cellular carrier's domain name. When Acacia's solicitations reached Joffe's carrier, it converted them into SMS messages and delivered them to Joffe's cellular telephone."

And in conclusion..." 49 By using an automatic dialing system to make Internet-to-phone SMS calls to Joffe's cellular telephone, Acacia violated 227(b)(1)(A)(iii) of the TCPA"

An order from the FCC also said such messages violate the law.

Re:Yes, this is already illegal

[booch]

Such messages violate the existing law, and the recepient is entitled to a mandatory minimum of $500 per message.

Perhaps SCO is planning to be the recipient of such messages, not the sender. That would be an excellent business plan!

Where have all the moderators gone?

[smvp6459]

If only I had points I'd blow all 5 on the posts related to this article. Thanks for all the laughs.

Really well supported, too

[Anonymous Coward]

Check this out! Not only do they support the Treo 650, but they also support the Treo 650, Treo 650 *and* the new Treo 650.

"What phones are Me Inc Applications supported on?"
"At this time, the palmOne Treo 650 is the only supported cell phone compatible with the current release of the Me Inc applications."

Man, I had my doubts about this new software, and about the truthfullness of some of the claims. But now I've seen this level of broad-reaching, practically universal support, I'm sold.

The interesting story here

[Bad D.N.A.]

"One of my main goals as the mayor of Provo City is to use technology to bless the lives of Provo residents, and Me Inc. is simply and effectively allowing me to do that," said Lewis K. Billings, mayor of Provo, Utah. "Me Inc. is an incredible technology, one which I plan to use continually throughout my term as it dramatically enhances my ability to personally reach constituents."

A reference here is in order... For the argument, let's take it at face value...

The real story here isn't that SCO == carp (floating around eating shit that falls from above, we are all convinced of that already), but that they have convinced/bribed/bought some local politician who now thinks (has been convinced) it's a good idea to spam his constituents.

The first time I get a politician that spams me on my cell (at my expense), will make it very easy to know who NOT to vote for.

You're all missing the genius

[smvp6459]

You don't get it...it give worms to ex-girlfriends.

Seriously, aren't you all SMS spammers? When you're at the grocery store don't you come up with a great idea for text message spam? Back before SCO's new offering you had to go home and execute your plan from your computer. Now you just take your Treo 650 and get to the lucrative SMS spam market immediately, beating out your competition. Don't you all see the amazing possibilities here?

Good one

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL

Loose change?

[Esion Modnar]

Next thing you know, you'll see SCO bumming for loose change in the subway. Ah, I'm going to miss these amusing SCO articles. But at least I'll have the rootkit stories to look forward to.

MOD PARENT UP

[gstoddart]

If taking my original vague query and turning it into specific case law isn't deserving of a couple of +1 informative, I don't know what the hell is.

Cheers to the respondant. =)

Wait for it

[walterbyrd]

"I just thought they were a legal firm designed to bring up frivolous lawsuits intended to net the company monatary judgements for no real work done."

They are. I suspect this technology is just a settup for some other bogus lawsuit.

scox's ex-parent company, canopy, used to do this. For example, they aquired dr-dos, used it to sue msft, then threw dr-dos on the scrap heap. Maybe scox bought some rights to UNIX for the same reason - to sue IBM.

SCO -- too evil to be true

[typical]

You know, that was the feeling I got the *first* time SCO started this. What? They own Linux? What, they're suing their own customers? What, they're selling licenses to Linux for $800 a pop? What, now they're threatening to go after the US government? And the claims just started getting more extreme and weirder from there.

And now I'm just getting kind of numb. It's like shock rockers -- after a point, nothing they do can surprise you any more. Next I expect they'll try trademarking "Mother Teresa" or something.

The only thing I can think of is that *maybe* they simply have some value as a publically traded tech company that has some (however dubious) claims to fame from a long time ago that absolutely does not care at all about reputation. Sort of a "We'll do *anything*! We're that crazy!" type thing.

Site

[hotfireball]

Their "Highly reliable" site is "highly ugly", awkward, irregular on my 1.5.0.1 Firefox and uses ugly 256 color animated GIF's. Will they sue me for my Firefox had cached their clutterish artwork on my hard disk as a proprietary GIF's?

Oh, and their site has a damn wrong HTML.

Nice student's work!

Darl's mug

[typical]

Yes, everything was very cool indeed, until Darth McBride took over. "Congratulations. In a few short months you've dethroned Bill Gates as the most hated man in the industry."

You know, Wikipedia *still* lacks a picture of Darl on their Darl McBride article. That's kind of depressing, for someone with the name recognition he has. There has to be one freely available from somewhere.

Re:Darl's mug

[phantomfive]

His picture is great. I will politely refrain from making remarks about another person's appearance, but you should look at it. (And there is a link to it from the Wikipedia article).

Re:Your pyramid scam intrigues me...

[kjots]

What, so now Novell are involved?!? When will it end!

SCO discovers action/adventure movies

[dcavanaugh]

This is fiction. I made it up. Honest.

One day, the SCO execs were watching "Under Siege" as they waited to start one of their quarterly conference calls. As their quest for revenue reached a new level of desperation, they had an idea: Steal a battleship and then auction off the nuclear weapons on E-bay. But a number of problems emerged, the top 10 of which are shown here:

10. There are no battleships left in US Navy service
9. Even if they found a battleship, existance of nukes on board is not guaranteed. SCO execs fearful of coming up empty handed again
8. Finding a battleship in Utah would not be easy
7. Need MS to front the money for a road trip to the west coast
6. Fear of SCO marketing execs causing an explosion while demonstrating the technology
5. Terrorist interest fizzled when they learned that in order to buy the nukes they would have to accept a bundle of SCOsource licenses
4. Navy not buying SCO's "We own all your boats" claim
3. Consultant Tommy Lee Jones was not available
2. Sales dept. is too busy preparing "Herbal Viagra" and Nigerian scams for cell phone victims
1. Not sure what to do about the newest cafeteria worker at SCO headquarters -- the guy looks mysteriously like Steven Segal

Request For Urgent Business Relationship

[stygar]

FROM: DARL MCBRIGERIA, UTAH

First, I must solicit your strictest confidence in this transaction. This is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential and 'TOP SECRET'. I am sure and have confidence of your ability and reliability to prosecute a trasnaction of this great magnitude involving a pending transaction requiring maxiimum confidence.

BYU - Bring Your ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Underwear?

You're hired!

[A nonymous Coward]

SCO needs a new marketing director.

In other news...

[Anonymous Coward]

Linux is STILL for fags.

Hey!

[Art Tatum]

Get with the fucking program, will ya? Fucktard.

Me?

[Keruo]

> SCO also trademarks 'Me.'

Windows Me

Mmm.. I love the sweet smell of lawsuit in the morning.

"SCO also trademarks Me. "

[l3v1]

"- Me, me, me... - Me too." :P

Ferengi to-do list

[rakslice]

1. Annoy Starfleet.

2. ???

3. Profit.

Bah...I find the value proposition lacking

[WebCowboy]

If you want to associate yourself with shady, marginally-sane quasi-pyramid-scheme planners then I'd strongly recommend you look at Quixtar instead.

At least with Quixtar you can also get quality Amway products delivered right to your door every month...and you get to go to weekly meetings at the local best Western and make a whole bunch of supportive, shiny-faced, warm-and-fuzzy friends...and you don't even have to stand up and declare that you an alcoholic...and I even think you have far less than 12 steps to follow to achieve happiness too!

But SCO? I dunno man, it runs on spam--even Quixtar people will kick you out if you use spam to build your business. Plus, their CEO looks like a mean bouncer and acts worse...I mean c'mon man...threatening to sue your own customers? With that kind of attitude, how could you ever build your team both deep and wide?

'scuse me, I gotta go take my vitamins, drink my special juice and clean my toilet with these wonderful Amway products...

Ich-AG

[Anonymous Coward]

We had it for quite some time now in Germany. Our previous chancelor invented it. SCO is late. :)

Just when we thoght SCO could sink no lower...

[mlush]

... they start selling services to phone spammers.

It doesn't do anything...

[scottsk]

From the press release, the most remarkable aspect of this new whatever-it-is is that it doesn't actually do anything. If you wade through the marketroid-language crud, and translate phrases like whatever-it-is "has extended the opportunities for individuals and organizations of all kinds to participate in developing, selling and using digital services" into English, they're building a proprietary lock-in, top-heavy infrastructure no one wants, to solve a problme no one has, in an age dominated by lightweight apps. IBM actually did this a while back with a be-all end-all Java platform I can't even remember the name of now (!) that was going to be the glue that ran business into the next century. (My memory of this IBM platform was that it didn't even run. I couldn't figure out what it did or didn't do.) I don't know if SCO's whatever-it-is has gone beyond vaporware (it sure isn't at sourceforge :)), but they're asking other people to sell a solution that has no track record, but requires 100% proprietary lock-in to the platform that doesn't actually do anything. So all the risk is on their MLM partners and the unfortunate people who adopt this platform. This makes SCO's lawsuit strategy look good. (By the time your engineers learn this platform, they could already have built the app out of Perl...)

I need your help.

[supersnail]

I am chairman and CEO of SCO company which is large and technicaly high.
We have recently moved office to Lagos in Nigeria Africa so CFOs wife can get sun tan and enjoy wonderful weather. But I have small problem. Local law prevents me sending my annual bonus 1,897,766.20 dollar to my poor sick mother in California, USA.
I need USA bank account to deposit money in not in my name. I will pay genrous ten percent commision if you help is coming to pay medical bills of poor sick mother and poor sick Venture Capitalist.

Please MOD parent up thank you n/t

[Anonymous Coward]

.thank you

That press release sounds generated.

[CdXiminez]

Was it really written by people?
It sounds like the stuff from marketing drivel generators.

ME Trademark

[Anonymous Coward]

Wouldn't Microsoft already have this trademarked from the Windows ME days?

Bingo!

[jbeaupre]

Oh, wait. I thought we were playing buzzword bingo.
http://isd.usc.edu/~karl/Bingo/

Seems Clear to me

[Anonymous Coward]

SCO Announces Plan to Increase Revenue

Fire Your Stinkin' Lawyers!!!!

I read the title...

[kmartshopper]

... and all I could think was, 'What another law suit?"

Oh boy, oh boy!!!!

[wtansill]

If I follow through on this I'll finally be able to pay off the loan I took out for that worthless "work-from-home" scam from a few years back! I'll be rich! Rich I say!

sabotage?

[camryl]

Maybe SCO are secretly against all trademarks, patents, and copyrights, and are attempting to destroy the system from within.

Apparently they never read...

[tbmcmullen]

This article: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/zombiecopy

IS that all it takes to increase revenue?

[boy_afraid]

Idiot me and all thos economics classes I took. I didn't know you could just SAY your going to increase revenue and then, WHAM, money magically starts to flow in. Talk about the power of positive thinking!!

What is with you people? Mod this up more!

[Valdrax]

Nice nick, by the way -- very relevant.

Re:All MLMs are poison

[bboling]

Still, you are greatly over generalizing saying that all MLMs are poison. The perception that most people have from MLMs stems from deceitful Amway reps with stars in their eyes about getting rich quick (Amway encourages both the deceit and the unrealistic expectations of wealth). Not all products sold by MLMs are "no better or cheaper" than from a store. Usana, for example, manufactures arguably the highest quality vitamin supplements on the market. Reputable MLM companies don't pay any commissions for recruiting others, compensate their distributors on product sales, and encourage respectful honesty in their distributors.

It is all about Me

[Adrin]

that just proves SCO thinking. "It is all about Me." Get your t-shirts now.

I wonder can they trademark Me after Microsoft has used it?

Re:All MLMs are poison

[DrXym]

Usana, for example, manufactures arguably the highest quality vitamin supplements on the market.

How do you quantify a statement like that? I have no idea what happens in the US, but EU vitamin makes state clearly on the side what the contents of each pill are by the milligram, plus the RDA. And vitamins are so cheap to buy that I fail to see any point in a MLM scheme set up to sell them. For example my local Tesco sells 60 multivitamin pills for 1.76 Euros. If I want to buy in bulk I can head to Puritan's Pride or similar where I will find a massive and extremely cheap selection of pills for next to nothing.

Re:All MLMs are poison

[bboling]

You're right that there is probably not any easy way to determine the highest quality vitamin study without a background in nutritional science and a lot of investigation. It's also true that Usana vitamins are more expensive than the vitamins typically found in grocery stores in the US. I have done personal experimentation with vitamins and have noticed significant differences in my own health when I take the Usana Essentials compared to when I have taken other multi-vitamin and multi-mineral supplements.

Every person is unique physiologically, so I can't say that everyone will notice the same dramatic difference that I did. It could be that my body genetically needs more pantothenic acid, or some other vitamin, than the average individual to remain healthy. This leads me to believe that the best way the average consumer can get exactly what his body needs is to get a general nutritionally complete supplement. Here is where the debate begins. What is a "nutritionally complete supplement"? To that I don't have an answer, but there have been some good publications on the topic.

I really like the writings of Roger J. Williams who was a biochemist at the University of Texas and who named folic acid and discovered pantothenic acid. In particular, I like his book "Nutrition Against Disease". There is also a commercial publication created by a Lyle MacWilliam from Canada called "Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements" that is also interesting.

One disappointing difference between vitamin/mineral supplements in the US and many other countries is that the FDA classifies nutritional supplements as Food which has much lower standards of manufacturing, quality control, and bio-availability than pharmaceuticals. A pharmaceutical product has to dissolve in your stomach within a certain time-frame (I think it's between 18 and 30 minutes). There is no such requirement for food grade products, although many supplement companies voluntarily comply with the more strict manufacturing standards.

If you're interested in the contents of Usana's Essentials, here are their labels: Mega Antioxidant and Chelated Minerals