MESSAGE
DATE | 2003-07-21 |
FROM | Ruben Safir Secretary NYLXS
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SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] SCO Escalates Linux Battle
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As soon as I get done paying the royalites on my MP3 collection, Ruben
On Mon, Jul 21, 2003 at 11:02:11PM +0100, Inker, Evan wrote: > > Ok, who's going to be the first to send SCO a check for the licensing fees > for their linux box? > Ruben, how about you being the first..... > > > July 21, 2003 > SCO Escalates Linux Battle > By Thor Olavsrud > http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/2237771 > > > Laying the ground work to take its battle with Linux directly to Linux > customers, SCO Group (Quote > , Company Info > ) said it > has received U.S. copyright registrations for its Unix System V and UnixWare > source code, just the firepower it needs to pursue copyright violation > suits. > "SCO now has broad legal rights against end-users," Darl McBride, president > and CEO of SCO, said Monday. "We intend to use these rights carefully and > judiciously." > > Until now, SCO's conflict with Linux, which it claims is an unauthorized > derivation of its Unix code, has centered on a breach of contract suit > aimed at IBM > (Quote , Company > Info ). But > with the copyrights in hand, SCO said using Linux is essentially software > piracy, and it is ready to open a new revenue stream by giving Linux users > immunity to copyright violations through licensing. > "Today is really the formalization of our going down the path of broadening > our case to go beyond just contracts to include copyrights," McBride said. > He added, "Today's announcement really is a new front that we're opening > up." > > The company said it plans to offer UnixWare licenses tailored to support > run-time, binary use of Linux for all commercial users of Linux based on the > 2.4.x and later versions of the Linux kernel. SCO said any commercial Linux > customers that purchase the license will be held harmless against past > copyright violations and for any future use of Linux in a run-only, binary > format. > > "For several months, SCO has focused primarily on IBM's alleged Unix > contract violations and misappropriation of Unix source code," said Darl > McBride, president and CEO of SCO Group. "Today, we're stating that the > alleged actions of IBM and others have caused customers to use a tainted > product at SCO's expense. With more than 2.4 million Linux servers running > our software, and thousands more running Linux every day, we expect SCO to > be compensated for the benefits realized by tens of thousands of customers. > Though we possess broad legal rights, we plan to use these carefully and > judiciously." > The company is still establishing pricing on the new licenses, which McBride > said will be available with volume licensing discounts. > > "Since the year 2001, commercial Linux customers have been purchasing and > receiving software that includes misappropriated Unix software owned by > SCO," said Chris Sontag, senior vice president and general manager of > SCOsource, the company's intellectual property unit. "While using pirated > software is copyright infringement, our first choice in helping Linux > customers is to give them an option that will not disrupt their IT > infrastructures. We intend to provide them with choices to help them run > Linux in a legal and fully-paid for way." > > The company said Linux's Symmetrical Multi-Processing (SMP) capabilities, > which are essential to making Linux an enterprise-grade operating system, > are derived from Unix System V and its derivative works (like IBM's AIX). > McBride claimed SCO has found three distinct areas of infringement: > > * Direct line-by-line code taken from SCO's Unix System V, which he > noted made its way into Linux from various vendors, "primarily other than > IBM" > * Direct line-by-line code taken from derivations of Unix System V > code, like IBM's AIX; McBride noted that its contracts with Unix vendors > prevent those companies from donating any code based on or derived > from the Unix System V kernel > * Non-literal infringement which stems from code which borrows from > the concepts and structure of Unix. > > Despite speculation that some of the alleged infringing code may have come > from BSD (at one point, System V code borrowed from 4.4BSD, removing > attributions and copyrights), McBride said that is not the case. > > "We're not talking about BSD code," he said. "We're talking about high-end > SMP code that has been donated in the past year or two and has not made the > rounds through BSD." > > SCO said it will begin contacting companies regarding their use of Linux > this week, and give them the option of buying a UnixWare license. The > company's stock price rocketed up about 15 percent, to $13.75 a share, in > mid-morning trading after the licensing plan was unveiled. > > SCO's crusade against Linux began with IBM. On March 6, the company sent a > letter to IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano, warning him that IBM had > allegedly breached its contract with SCO by contributing portions of its > Unix-based AIX code to the open source movement, and by introducing concepts > from Project Monterey, a joint effort by SCO and IBM to develop a 64-bit > Unix-based operating system for Intel-based processing platforms, into > Linux. IBM scrapped Project Monterey in May 2001. > > But in the meantime, while maintaining that its problems were with IBM and > the alleged violation of its contract, SCO has also been giving customers > notice. In May, it sent a letter to some 1,350 companies that use Linux, > warning them, "similar to analogous efforts underway in the music industry, > we are prepared to take all actions necessary to stop the ongoing violation > of our intellectual property or other rights." > It also issued a statement > that "Linux is > an unauthorized derivative of Unix and that legal liability for the use of > Linux may extend to commercial users." > > While the case against IBM is still in the initial phases, SCO has already > terminated IBM's > license for the AIX operating system. IBM maintains the license is perpetual > and irrevocable, and continues selling AIX. > > > Unix Background > > Unix was developed at AT&T's Bell Labs in 1969, but its history since then > has been convoluted at best, leading experts like Open Source Initiative > President Eric Raymond to delineate definitions for various operating > systems that fall into the Unix family. Raymond uses "genetic Unix" to > describe those operating systems which are derivative works of the original > Bell Labs Unix. > > Outside contributors, especially academics working from UC Berkeley and > other institutions, supplied much of Unix's development after 1975, > according to Raymond. Around 1980, Berkeley Unix hackers added Internet > capability to the code base. By 1990, the relationship between AT&T's Unix > Systems Laboratories (USL) and Berkeley had soured, leading to a three year > lawsuit with a settlement that severed Berkeley's version of the Unix > source, BSD, from AT&T. In 1992, the Unix trademark passed to the Open > Group, a technical standards consortium which now maintains the Unix > standard. Unices which adhere to and verify conformance with the standard > are "trademark Unix" operating systems. > > The Bell Labs code passed from AT&T to USL when AT&T spun it off in 1992 in > a joint venture with Novell (the Unix trademark went to Open Group -- then > known as X/Open -- as part of the deal). Novell bought AT&T's stake in USL > in 1993. The property then passed from Novell to SCO in 1995. Meanwhile, the > Unix universe had seen a birth of a number of other Unices, including: > > * AIX, IBM's Unix, a proprietary genetic and trademark Unix developed > between 1987 and 1990 > * Solaris, the proprietary genetic and trademark Unix used by Sun > Microsystems > * SCO Open Server, SCO's version of Unix, a proprietary genetic and > trademark Unix dating back to the early 1980s > * BSD, an open source genetic Unix, but not a trademark Unix, which > now has three variants of its own > * Linux, an open source variant developed in Finland in 1991 which > Raymond said is neither a genetic Unix nor a trademark Unix. > > SCO added UnixWare, the brand name carried by later versions of Bell Labs' > Unix, after it acquired it in 1995. In the meantime, to further muddy the > picture, System V, the Unix that later evolved into UnixWare, borrowed from > 4.4BSD, leading Berkeley to sue. > > "It seems that from as far back as before 1985, the historical Bell Labs > code base has been incorporating large amounts of software from the BSD > sources," Raymond said in OSI's position paper > on the SCO-vs.-IBM complaint. > "The University's cause of action lay in the fact that AT&T, USL and Novell > had routinely violated the terms of the BSD license by removing license > attributions and copyrights." > > The lawsuit was settled and the record sealed. > > > > **************************************************************************** > This message contains confidential information and is intended only > for the individual or entity named. 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