So, can I patent gold, silver, and platinum, and start demanding fees from Jewelry and precious metal manufacturers? Don't carbon nanotubes ever occur in nature? Seems to me the rule was that they could patent their method for building them, but if you could figure out another way to do it, it was fair game. Now NEC is claiming it is impossible to make a carbon nanotube without infringing their methods? What, is everybody infringing on step 1: "First, take some carbon..."?!?
Is "we think they used our libraries" really sufficient grounds for a lawsuit? Aren't they required to use due diligence first, before filing? Something along the lines of 1) sending a letter to AutoZone stating "We beleive you are using our libraries contrary to our contract with you. Please cease and desist." 2) Receive a reponse from AutoZone stating "No we are not. Kindly fuck off." 3) Sending another letter stating "We think you are lying. When may we audit you?" 4) Receiving a response from AutoZone stating "We have given our security guards orders to shoot on sight anyone identifying themselves as representing SCO." Then maybe they would have grounds for a lawsuit -- or maybe if AutoZone never bothered responding to their C&D letter, as apparently Daimler-Chrysler never did. What due diligence actions did SCO take before hauling AutoZone into court?
Down 15.2% to $11.38 with about 20 minutes left to market close, and still dropping... yep, I think that qualifies as "getting slammed". Hopefully this will continue to the "Darl, are you out of your fucking mind?!?" stage tommorrow - say a 50% drop? Still, there is no justice, 'cause it probably won't drop to the $0.90/share it was before threatening IBM any time in the near future.
SCO can't argue "look and feel". The look and feel is POSIX, which was intended from day one to make every operating system look the same to applications . Likewise, for over 30 years the major selling point for Unixes was ease of switching to another OS vendor. I wouldn't be suprised if SCO argues "You developed your application on SCO Unix, therefore it is a derivative work, and you can't run it on any other operating system!" Needless to say, this conflicts with over 30 years of precedent and common practice. Unfortunately, there is probably just enough of a case there that they can't be put in jail for barratry or extortion. On the other hand, a securities fraud case might have an easier time of getting a conviction then, say, the case against Martha "You call this Living?" Stewart.
Unfortunately, they have $65 million in the bank, and are currently losing only $2.25 million per quarter. Simple math says they can remain litiguous bastards for the next 7 years... more advanced math says that with every new lawsuit their burn rate goes up, while their revenues go down, since nobody in their right mind would enter into a contractual relationship with somebody that honestly beleives "Contracts are what you use against the people that you have a business relationship with." Somebody at SCO obviously beleives revenues from extor^H^H^H^H^Hlicensing will go up faster than legal costs and loss of other revenue. I, for one, would love to be that person's crack dealer, as obviously the crack dealers and lawyers are the ones really profiting from this embarrasment to the legal system.
So if I trade in a Chevy for a Ford, GM can sue me if I still have payments left on my loan? Only if IBM induced you to trade it in... see, IBM is the Devil, and SCO is just trying to save AutoZone's soul... Obviously, they just switched to Linux because the Devil made them do it!
Having every Linux nerd in the world upset with you is one thing, but every car nerd, that's considerably more dangerous. What you really have to worry about are the pickup truck nerds, the ones with the gun racks in the rear window... I hear they have a lot of 'em out in Utah... Now look what you done, Darl... you've gone and pissed off the NASCAR dads!
SCO had to choose a company that had run SCO in the past, so they could sue over contract violations, not copyrights which they still have not proved they own. Most tech companies are either new enough or smart enough to have avoided SCO software altogether. That leaves only about a few hundred companies that were short-sighted enough to install SCO point of sale systems as suitable (pun intended) targets.
SCO quarterly losses up to $2.25 million for fiscal Q1. Ouch. And there strategy appears to be to increase their burn rate by filing even more lawsuits, while simultaneously doing their best to discourage anyone from doing business with them. Remember, AutoZone was targetted specifically because they had a business relationship with Caldera/SCO in the past. I would certainly be hesitant to sign a contract with any company that thinks their customers are the best targets for their extortion scheme. Just like McBride said: "Contracts are what you use against parties you have relationships with." AutoZone was foolish enough to give SCO a tool to use against them in the past, when the nature of the beast had not yet been revealed (probably because it was still being run by Ransome Love). No sane person would make that same mistake today -- further proof that SCO's current business model has nothing to do with providing software solutions, and everything to do with litigation.
I would say that if AutoZone made a smooth transition from SCO Unix to Linux, that they do in fact have competent IT at their core. If they also have competent lawyers, this is a non-case. Personally, I don't see how anybody could make the claim in court that "they must have infringed on our IP because they are too stupid to figure this out for themselves!" with a straight face, but then SCO lawyers have had over a year now to practice making outrageous claims without bursting out laughing... still, I'd like to see the look on the Judge's face! "Heh, heh, heh... that's a good one McBride! Now tell me, seriously, what are your real grounds for this lawsuit?"
Funny, I thought it was "AT&T Unix System V, as licensed to Novell, as sublicensed to Caldera, which changed it's name to SCO". But I guess just calling it "SCO System 5" is shorter, if not entirely historically accurate.
For the record, I'm an American. I just happen to listen to BBC News and World Report on OPB. I was hoping more Americans would argue against my point... sadly we appear resigned to our political apathy. If you have strong feelings one way or the other, please, I beg of you: register and vote. Make sure everybody you know registers and votes. Campaign for the person you think would do the best job. Don't just sit there. More than anywhere else, Americans get the government they deserve -- and that can be either a blessing or a curse.
If they spent the $9 million on lottery tickets, they would have a better chance of winning... and it would still be grounds for a shareholder lawsuit.
SCO was unprofitable last quarter but would have been in the black if not for a $9 million payout to its attorneys, In most companies, wouldn't this be grounds for a shareholder lawsuit?
SCO might turn around and sue Microsoft. What a twist that would be! That would be just like Miss Piggy attacking and brutally beating Frank Oz, wouldn't it?
They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses. If there is any justice in this world, this should result in a flurry of calls to SCO asking "Any chance that I can cancel my SCO licenses before 9:00am Wednesday?"
Just attach a camera to your monit0r. For instance, you could select a file, then flip it the bird to delete it. Point at a file to open it. Stick a finger down your throat and making gagging motions to run MS Office. And, uh... it would be pretty obvious when you want to view your pr0n collection!
we are also ignorant about canadian and mexican politics Hey, just because we think Vicente Fox and Vivica A. Fox are related, and we can't understand how a Canadian film can win "Best Foreign Language Film" at the Oscars doesn't mean we don't know anything about our neighbors!
Slashdot Mirror
So, can I patent gold, silver, and platinum, and start demanding fees from Jewelry and precious metal manufacturers? Don't carbon nanotubes ever occur in nature? Seems to me the rule was that they could patent their method for building them, but if you could figure out another way to do it, it was fair game. Now NEC is claiming it is impossible to make a carbon nanotube without infringing their methods? What, is everybody infringing on step 1: "First, take some carbon..."?!?
Is "we think they used our libraries" really sufficient grounds for a lawsuit? Aren't they required to use due diligence first, before filing? Something along the lines of 1) sending a letter to AutoZone stating "We beleive you are using our libraries contrary to our contract with you. Please cease and desist." 2) Receive a reponse from AutoZone stating "No we are not. Kindly fuck off." 3) Sending another letter stating "We think you are lying. When may we audit you?" 4) Receiving a response from AutoZone stating "We have given our security guards orders to shoot on sight anyone identifying themselves as representing SCO." Then maybe they would have grounds for a lawsuit -- or maybe if AutoZone never bothered responding to their C&D letter, as apparently Daimler-Chrysler never did. What due diligence actions did SCO take before hauling AutoZone into court?
Down 15.2% to $11.38 with about 20 minutes left to market close, and still dropping... yep, I think that qualifies as "getting slammed". Hopefully this will continue to the "Darl, are you out of your fucking mind?!?" stage tommorrow - say a 50% drop? Still, there is no justice, 'cause it probably won't drop to the $0.90/share it was before threatening IBM any time in the near future.
SCO can't argue "look and feel". The look and feel is POSIX, which was intended from day one to make every operating system look the same to applications . Likewise, for over 30 years the major selling point for Unixes was ease of switching to another OS vendor. I wouldn't be suprised if SCO argues "You developed your application on SCO Unix, therefore it is a derivative work, and you can't run it on any other operating system!" Needless to say, this conflicts with over 30 years of precedent and common practice. Unfortunately, there is probably just enough of a case there that they can't be put in jail for barratry or extortion. On the other hand, a securities fraud case might have an easier time of getting a conviction then, say, the case against Martha "You call this Living?" Stewart.
Linux geek are too busy buying computer hardware to afford automotive accessories. Methinks the net impact to AutoZone won't be noticable.
Unfortunately, they have $65 million in the bank, and are currently losing only $2.25 million per quarter. Simple math says they can remain litiguous bastards for the next 7 years... more advanced math says that with every new lawsuit their burn rate goes up, while their revenues go down, since nobody in their right mind would enter into a contractual relationship with somebody that honestly beleives "Contracts are what you use against the people that you have a business relationship with." Somebody at SCO obviously beleives revenues from extor^H^H^H^H^Hlicensing will go up faster than legal costs and loss of other revenue. I, for one, would love to be that person's crack dealer, as obviously the crack dealers and lawyers are the ones really profiting from this embarrasment to the legal system.
In other words, they are suing them for being POSIX-compliant.
So if I trade in a Chevy for a Ford, GM can sue me if I still have payments left on my loan? Only if IBM induced you to trade it in... see, IBM is the Devil, and SCO is just trying to save AutoZone's soul... Obviously, they just switched to Linux because the Devil made them do it!
Having every Linux nerd in the world upset with you is one thing, but every car nerd, that's considerably more dangerous. What you really have to worry about are the pickup truck nerds, the ones with the gun racks in the rear window... I hear they have a lot of 'em out in Utah... Now look what you done, Darl... you've gone and pissed off the NASCAR dads!
SCO had to choose a company that had run SCO in the past, so they could sue over contract violations, not copyrights which they still have not proved they own. Most tech companies are either new enough or smart enough to have avoided SCO software altogether. That leaves only about a few hundred companies that were short-sighted enough to install SCO point of sale systems as suitable (pun intended) targets.
SCO quarterly losses up to $2.25 million for fiscal Q1. Ouch. And there strategy appears to be to increase their burn rate by filing even more lawsuits, while simultaneously doing their best to discourage anyone from doing business with them. Remember, AutoZone was targetted specifically because they had a business relationship with Caldera/SCO in the past. I would certainly be hesitant to sign a contract with any company that thinks their customers are the best targets for their extortion scheme. Just like McBride said: "Contracts are what you use against parties you have relationships with." AutoZone was foolish enough to give SCO a tool to use against them in the past, when the nature of the beast had not yet been revealed (probably because it was still being run by Ransome Love). No sane person would make that same mistake today -- further proof that SCO's current business model has nothing to do with providing software solutions, and everything to do with litigation.
I would say that if AutoZone made a smooth transition from SCO Unix to Linux, that they do in fact have competent IT at their core. If they also have competent lawyers, this is a non-case. Personally, I don't see how anybody could make the claim in court that "they must have infringed on our IP because they are too stupid to figure this out for themselves!" with a straight face, but then SCO lawyers have had over a year now to practice making outrageous claims without bursting out laughing... still, I'd like to see the look on the Judge's face! "Heh, heh, heh... that's a good one McBride! Now tell me, seriously, what are your real grounds for this lawsuit?"
Funny, I thought it was "AT&T Unix System V, as licensed to Novell, as sublicensed to Caldera, which changed it's name to SCO". But I guess just calling it "SCO System 5" is shorter, if not entirely historically accurate.
For the record, I'm an American. I just happen to listen to BBC News and World Report on OPB. I was hoping more Americans would argue against my point... sadly we appear resigned to our political apathy. If you have strong feelings one way or the other, please, I beg of you: register and vote. Make sure everybody you know registers and votes. Campaign for the person you think would do the best job. Don't just sit there. More than anywhere else, Americans get the government they deserve -- and that can be either a blessing or a curse.
If they spent the $9 million on lottery tickets, they would have a better chance of winning... and it would still be grounds for a shareholder lawsuit.
SCO was unprofitable last quarter but would have been in the black if not for a $9 million payout to its attorneys, In most companies, wouldn't this be grounds for a shareholder lawsuit?
What else would you expect, coming from a man whose very initials are "BS"?
"There is a high possibility we will be announcing two!" said Blake Stowell Tuesday, while placing his pinky in front of his mouth as pictured here
SCO might turn around and sue Microsoft. What a twist that would be! That would be just like Miss Piggy attacking and brutally beating Frank Oz, wouldn't it?
They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses. If there is any justice in this world, this should result in a flurry of calls to SCO asking "Any chance that I can cancel my SCO licenses before 9:00am Wednesday?"
Actually get some work done at work?
Just attach a camera to your monit0r. For instance, you could select a file, then flip it the bird to delete it. Point at a file to open it. Stick a finger down your throat and making gagging motions to run MS Office. And, uh... it would be pretty obvious when you want to view your pr0n collection!
It's best not to argue with a fool... you'll have to reduce yourself to their level, and then they'll beat you with experience.
Good point. You would have to allow voting on both Saturday and Sunday to accomadate differing "Sabbath" observances.
we are also ignorant about canadian and mexican politics Hey, just because we think Vicente Fox and Vivica A. Fox are related, and we can't understand how a Canadian film can win "Best Foreign Language Film" at the Oscars doesn't mean we don't know anything about our neighbors!