SCO Sues Al Gore
Recuperating from the MyDOOM virus attach and moving beyond IBM and Novell,
The SCO Group sets its sites on former Vice President Al Gore for ownership
of the Internet.
By Warren Keuffel
Software Development Magazine
April 12, 2004 Vol. 12, No. 4
When it comes to megalomania, The SCO Group is in a class by itself. Not
content to merely go head-to-head with IBM and Novell over Linux and open
source software (OSS), and undaunted by its bout with MyDOOM, The SCO Group
has files a lawsuit against Al Gore, who's widely known as the "Father of
the Internet." I'll let SCO speak for itself:
"LINDON, Utah--Jan. 20, 2004--The SCO Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOX), the owner
of the Internet and a leading provider of Internet-based solutions, today
filed suit against Al Gore for his alleged bad-faith effort to interfere
with SCO's rights with respect to the Internet. Among the suit's
allegations:
- Mr. Gore has improperly filed copyright registrations in the United States
Copyright Office for Internet technology covered by SCO's copyrights.
- Mr. Gore has made false and misleading public claims that he, and not SCO,
founded the Internet.
- Mr. Gore made false statements with the intent to cause customers and
potential customers to not do business with SCO.
- Mr. Gore has attempted, in bad faith, to block SCO's ability to enforce
its copyrights.
- Mr. Gore's false and misleading representations that he owns the
Internet's copyrights have caused SCO irreparable harm to its copyrights,
its business and its reputation."
The lawsuit, filed in Utah State Court, Salt Lake City, requests preliminary
and permanent injunctive relief, as well as damages. The injunction would
require Mr. Gore to assign to SCO all copyrights that Mr. Gore has
wrongfully registered, prevent Mr. Gore from representing any ownership
interest in those copyrights, and require Mr. Gore to retract or withdraw
all representations he's made regarding its purported ownership of those
copyrights.
"SCO takes this action today given Al Gore's recent and repeated
announcements regarding his claimed ownership of the Internet copyrights.
SCO has received many questions about Mr. Gore's actions from potential
customers, investors, and the press. Although SCO owns the Internet
copyrights, Mr. Gore's efforts to claim ownership of these copyrights has
forced this action," said Abogado Avocat, partner, Lloyds, Miller and Wexner
LLP. "We encourage the public and commercial Linux users to read the Asset
Purchase Agreement from 1969, so they can see for themselves that SCO owns
the copyrights to the Internet."
The lawsuit seeks damages in an amount to be proven at trial for Al Gore's
alleged misappropriation of SCO's title to the Internet copyrights. In
addition, the lawsuit seeks punitive damages in an amount to be proven at
trial for Mr. Gore's "malicious and willful conduct."
Why is The SCO Group apparently willing to fight a two-front war, one with
the Linux and OSS community, and the other with the entire Internet
establishment? The details of the battle, which I discussed in my February
column ("State of the Scam"), are widely known and need not be revisited
here. But the new claims against Al Gore gave me pause.
A.F. Day Speaks
To get the full story, I interviewed A.F. Day, Al Gore's former Chief of
Staff. I first asked Mr. Day about the truth of the allegations that Al Gore
had claimed that he was the Father of the Internet.
"Vice President Gore never claimed he was the 'Father of the Internet,'" Mr.
Day replied. "That happened as a result of a glitch during an interview the
Vice President was doing with Fox TV News correspondent Brit Hume. Al said,
'Had I been present at the creation, I would have given some useful hints
for the better ordering of the Internet.' Unfortunately, the comment came as
they resumed filming the interview after a break, and because of some tape
hiss, it sounded like he said he was responsible for the creation of the
Internet. But, Fox being Fox, decided the garbled quote made better news and
ran it.
"But," Mr. Day said, "when Al was a Senator, he had the prescience to
realize the value of a copyright on the Internet. The rest is, as they say,
history. The SCO Group has no case."
Mr. Day added, "I know what you're going to ask next. There's absolutely no
truth to the rumor that Darl McBride is Al Gore's unacknowledged love child,
and that this lawsuit is payback. In addition," he continued, "I have no
comment on that other rumor, that the acorn never falls far from the tree,
and that Linus Torvalds was born nine months after Darl McBride returned
from a trip to Finland."
Despite the denials, rumors continue to fly. The SCO Group is unlikely to
prevail--against Linux or Al Gore--but who needs to watch TV soap operas
when we can see the real thing in Lindon?
Write me directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED], or post a message for all to read at
www.sdmagazine.com. And thanks to Al Gore's former Chief of Staff, April
Fools' Day.
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