----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 23, 2003 11:12 PM Subject: [LIG] FWD: Torvalds Sounds Off On SCO Lawsuit
> This story has been sent to you by: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message from [EMAIL PROTECTED]: > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This article is from CRN (http://www.crn.com/). > This article may be viewed online at: > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > <beginstory> > Torvalds Sounds Off On SCO Lawsuit > > By Paula Rooney, <i>CRN</i><BR>Waltham, Mass. > 2:48 PM EST Thurs., May 22, 2003 > > Linus Torvalds won't render his own verdict on SCO Group's legal case > against IBM until the Unix code in question is revealed in court. > In an e-mail response to <i>CRN</i>, Torvalds, widely considered the > father of Linux, said he is awaiting judgment until SCO identifies the > Unix code IBM allegedly misappropriated and handed over to the open-source > community. > But at this point, he said he's skeptical the case has merit. > "SCO isn't even telling what they have, and I'm not a lawyer anyway," > Torvalds wrote. "The people I've spoken to seem to think the merit of the > case lies in whatever details, and since SCO hasn't disclosed any of those > details, they can't say." > Torvalds compared the situation to Clonaid's debunked claim earlier this > year that it had cloned a human infant. > "SCO is playing it like the Raelians [the organization backed by Clonaid's > founder, known as Rael], saying, 'We'll show you proof in a few weeks, > through an expert panel that we trust.' Let's see if there is any baby or > not." > Torvalds wrote he sees no "smoking gun" in the Linux code, nor does he > hold IBM responsible for the dispute. > "I haven't seen anything that would imply that IBM has done anything > wrong, so until I hear otherwise, I'm just assuming it's just a case of > business as usual--when [SCO] can't make it in the market, sue and go > after the deep pockets." > SCO officials insist the case it filed against IBM in March has legal > merit, but refused to discuss the code in question. > For its part, IBM denied all of SCO's allegations in its response to the > lawsuit filed on April 30. A court date has not yet been set, SCO > officials said. > Some observers--particularly those in the Linux camp--speculate that SCO's > motive is to get a quick settlement from IBM, while others say it is > positioning itself--or its key Unix System V assets --for acquisition. > One source close to SCO confirmed that IBM lawyers are in "discussions > about possible discussions" with SCO's legal team. > For its part, SCO officials insist its legal claims are valid and the code > in question will be revealed in court. > "SCO does not comment on rumors or speculation," said Jeff Hunsaker, > senior vice president of worldwide marketing at SCO. "The only reason we > are making these moves in the industry is to protect our intellectual > property." > At least one attorney specializing in intellectual property said that > while he does not believe the case has legal merit, IBM might settle to > prevent the case from dragging on and hampering its ability to migrate > customers to Linux. > "I don't think there's a smoking gun, and it'll take a lot of hard work to > identify what SCO thinks has gone wrong," said Tom Carey, a partner and > chair of the business department at Bromberg & Sunstein, a law firm > specializing in intellectual property in Boston. > "My belief is that IBM is far too sophisticated a company not to create a > Chinese wall between its AIX and Linux [development] groups and that they > carefully thought through what AIX development work they might have > created by itself, and what it would contribute to the open-source > community. It's far too cautious a company with policies and procedures > [in place] for that situation to occur. There's a low probability that > there's a valid trade secret claim." > Carey noted that the Linux community will write around any technical > problems once the code is revealed. > "It's in IBM's interest to have Linux clear of this situation and if the > problem becomes serious enough, IBM will make it go away," the attorney > added. "If trade secrets are the issue, it wouldn't be hard for the Linux > community to recode the offending software." > > <endstory> > > ********** COPYRIGHT(C) 1999 CMP MEDIA INC. ********** > > > -- To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the body "unsubscribe ilug-cal" and an empty subject line. FAQ: http://www.ilug-cal.org/node.php?id=3
