Sign in / up

back to article SCO rises from the dead (again)

SCO has risen from the grave. Again. On June 10, US judge Ted Stewart ruled that Novell does indeed own the UNIX copyrights the The SCO Group so vehemently laid claim to, ending a six-year legal battle between the two. But, yes, SCO has now appealed Stewart's judgment, according to those dogged SCO-watchers at Groklaw. Though …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.

Page:

  1. Neil Greatorex
    Pint

    Let's wait for the socking septics

    To start adding "DIE DIE DIE" posts. FFS Do these people have an education?

    SCO is a little bit of internet history, Groklaw was a resource (until the true nature of the moderation system became clear) /. was/is a better resource. The Register added it's little bit.

    & We really, really don't care anymore.....

    Rock-on El Reg :-)

    0 0
  2. Gannon (J.) Dick
    Big Brother

    Help Wanted

    Hey Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico owns those tar balls. Give them back!

    That old joke about a bus full of lawyers at the bottom of the ocean being a "good start" has taken a horribly prophetic turn.

    0 0
  3. Peter 39
    Flame

    chapter 7 ?

    I don't think they still have money, so why aren't they in chapter 7 now? There's no viability for them to remain in chapter 11. Who has standing to force this? Novell, I would guess but maybe others as well.

    0 0
  4. Code Monkey
    Coat

    Welcome back SCO!

    Fair enough we're not short of laughs in our industry but as a comedy franchise, SCO is going for some sort of record. Maybe we should start calling them UNIX Academy.

    3 0
  5. Stuart 22
    Joke

    Breaking News

    SCO to merge with Phorm ... a combination to make any accountant see red ...

    3 0
    1. Captain Thyratron
      Reply Icon

      Don't do it!

      The ingredients of the worst kind of eternal life.

      1 0
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    SCO are clearly a creation of Stan Lee

    Because no one dies forever in Marvel comics either.

    Not even Cyclops, which upset me. I can't stand him.

    1 0
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      You forgot the Golden Rule

      No one in comics stays dead except for Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben.

      Well actually now it's just Uncle Ben

      1 0
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Happy

        golden rule?

        there's PORN of SCO suing Novell?

        0 0
  7. Chad H.
    Coat

    WIth Apologies to Mr Idle...

    I am not yet dead, I can sue and I can sing, I am not dead yet moneys such a silly thing, I am not dead yet, Do nothing you'll regret, reply to my legal letters cos I'm not yet dead!

    0 1
  8. Angus 2

    They remind me

    of the Black Knight in Holy Grail. :)

    1 0
    1. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      precisely

      "Come back here you yellow bastard, I'll bite your legs of!"

      why don't they die: "Death's too good for them" (as the Vogon captain said)

      0 0
  9. Daemon ZOGG
    Alien

    SCO?! AGAIN?! }8P

    DAMMIT! ...Like a New York cockroach! They just won't DIE!

    0 0
  10. Rick Giles
    Linux

    This is a forshadowing of what Microsoft will be someday

    At the hands of StevieB. They'll constantly be suing all and sundry that have dumped them to cut their costly license fees to Microsoft for products that are inherently better and give them more control of their servers and workstations.

    2 0
    1. Steve Button Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      WTF?

      RE: This is a forshadowing of what Microsoft will be someday

      Yeah, right. You sad deluded geek muppet.

      Microsoft are still quietly making BILLIONS of dollars in profits every year. Much as I'd like to see Linux become a serious headache for MS, it's just not happening on the desktop. Don't write them off just yet.

      0 1
    2. ElReg!comments!Pierre
      Reply Icon

      That's not what MS will be

      That's what MS already IS. Except that they have much more momentum and are, as some muppet would say, "too big to let fail" (even though that formulation was not used as such when MS was declared above common law by the US legal system, repeteadly, for the last 10 years or so).

      Hopefully the UE wil have the balls to put a stop on this (but most likely not).

      1 0
  11. kain preacher

    heat to 50,000 C

    for about 50 minutes. I want to know how phorm and SCO are getting their money. 419 scams ?

    1 0
  12. tom 24
    Happy

    I swear, if there was anything else on, I'd watch it.

    Reruns! The worst thing about watching a rerun is that you already know how it is going to end.

    0 0
  13. ElReg!comments!Pierre

    YESSSS!

    "The Return of the Undead Troll VII: The Revenge" is out, at last. It's a bit like a text-mode Z-serie franchise; the Adventure version of Freddy Kruegger, if you like. Invariably the bad guy loses in the end, but he always comes back!

    I can understand though. I mean, dead for dead, might as well keep up the fight as long as the US legal system will allow them to. They're technically out of business anyway -if not legally just yet-, and what could they possibly do to come back? Sell a dull version of UNIX with bad support, when you can get nice versions with good support from the likes of IBM, or Linux for free with very good and quite cheap support from Red Hat and the likes? That will fly as well as an iron kyte duct-taped to a lead balloon, especially as they kind of alienated everyone in the industry and repeatedly made a fool of themselves in front of all potential customers. No, really, the only way they might possibly make a bit of money is through courts, so you can't really blame them for trying (well, you could, but then you'd have to blame every other US tech company too. On second thought I think I can live with that.).

    1 0

  14. This post has been deleted by its author

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Troll

    why doesn't IBM buy them?

    it should be cheaper then going through with the court battle!

    0 0
    1. Rogerborg
      Reply Icon

      The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

      "[IBM buying them] should be cheaper then going through with the court battle!"

      Pay the trollgeld, and you'll never be free of the trolls.

      Novell and IBM need to be seen to kill SCO dead, and then be ready for more.

      1 0
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Because this seems to be one of those rare occassions

      on which the execs at IBM have decided it is more important to WIN than simply make it go away. Not sure who they pissed off where, but this smacks of the truly personal vendetta.

      1 0
      1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Reply Icon
        Thumb Up

        "Trollgeld"

        Like.

        0 0
  16. alien anthropologist
    FAIL

    The Party

    This SCO saga is all too familiar...

    The opening scene of Peter Seller's The Party, where the Indian bugler refuses to die. Eventually even having his fellow troops firing on him to silence him.

    Wonder how long it will before SCO insiders turn on the idiot who is refusing to let SCO die and burns the little money that is left in pursuit of this....?

    0 0
  17. TeeCee Gold badge
    WTF?

    Christ on a crutch!

    Since when did repeating an EPIC FAIL ad nauseum become a business model?

    1 0
  18. variant
    Grenade

    Relevant quote

    "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

    1 0
  19. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

    Surely it would be cheaper

    I know SCO will die eventually, but I would have thought that by now, SCO would be so worthless (SCOXQ capitalization of 1.08M USD at 5C a share) that Novell, or even IBM could buy the remaining stock for less than their legal costs in a retrial/trial (depending on which lawsuit you are looking at).

    Of course, this would depend on the expected outcome of any trial by the appointed Chapter 11 administrator, but I would have though that 50C or even less in the dollar would be attractive to them. Buying 51% at 50C would cost about 275K USD, which must be lower than the expected costs. Would have to make sure that any debts are ditched, though.

    Once they have done that, it's a simple matter of closing them for good.

    Or is there something in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that I don't understand?

    Alternatively, we could do it! I've a tenner, anybody else interested?

    0 0
    1. Tom 7
      Reply Icon

      No it wouldnt be cheaper

      There's some weird shenanigans where Yarro lent them $2M that would have to be paid back and as soon as you started buying shares the price would rise.....

      If the guy running chapter 11 realises the emperor has no clothes and calls chap7 then Yarro gets everything and may just continue tilting at windmills despite there being a reality chasm in the way.

      This things wired to the life support system, several resurrection machines and a whole bevy of deities who seem to be having as much fun as they did with the ancient greeks.

      Kafka having a bad acid trip couldnt make this one up.

      1 0
    2. davescafe
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Down

      Danegeld, by Rudyard Kipling

      IT IS always a temptation to an armed and agile nation,

      To call upon a neighbour and to say:

      "We invaded you last night - we are quite prepared to fight,

      Unless you pay us cash to go away."

      .

      And that is called asking for Dane-geld,

      And the people who ask it explain

      That you’ve only to pay ’em the Dane-geld

      And then you’ll get rid of the Dane!

      .

      It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,

      To puff and look important and to say:

      "Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.

      We will therefore pay you cash to go away."

      .

      And that is called paying the Dane-geld;

      But we’ve proved it again and again,

      That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld

      You never get rid of the Dane.

      .

      It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,

      For fear they should succumb and go astray,

      So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,

      You will find it better policy to say:

      .

      "We never pay any one Dane-geld,

      No matter how trifling the cost,

      For the end of that game is oppression and shame,

      And the nation that plays it is lost!"

      1 0
    3. davescafe
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Down

      Ransom (1996)

      WEALTHY VICTIM: Why... why me?

      KIDNAPPER: Why you? Because you buy your way out of trouble. You paid off to save your airline... why won't you pay off to save your son? You're a payer. You did it once, and now you're gonna do it again.

      ~ From the 1996 movie, "Ransom"

      1 0
  20. NogginTheNog
    FAIL

    Black Knight

    "It's nothing - just a flesh wound!"

    0 0
  21. mhenriday
    Stop

    Who rolled away the stone, this time ?

    Just asking....

    Henri

    0 0
  22. Magnus_Pym

    seriously though

    who is paying the bills?

    It's difficult enough to get money from the banks for a profitable business. Surely nobody is stupid enough to offer them credit. I mean I assume the CEO etc are still drawing salary. Why don't the cheques bounce? When the landlord comes round do they offer to pay him in kind (wink wink)? Why is the electricity still flowing at SCO HQ? And, most important of all, how do I get in touch with these people to pitch my new 'can't fail' business idea?

    1 0
    1. Gordon is not a Moron
      Reply Icon

      Banks and credit

      If you owe a bank a few thousand, they'll hound for the cash until your dying day.

      If you owe a bank millions they'll be your friend for life.

      1 0
  23. Tom 13

    A litigation menace that is immune to bullets?

    Time to break out the sonic screwdriver!

    0 0
  24. Gil Grissum
    Grenade

    It's the lawyers......

    The only reason SCO hasn't been buried dead and gone is the lawyers. It doesn't matter if SCO wins or not. The lawyers bill their hours and are paid for it anyway. No lawyer would take SCOs case for free. So it has to be the lawyers. There is no reason to appeal this decision. The first appeal resulted in the same thing- THEY LOST. A new appeal isn't in the best interest of the tax payers or the court system. Some judge needs to just say last rights over the damn thing and end it now. Someone pull the pin now please?

    1 0
  25. sisk

    You gotta shoot 'em in the head!

    Has no one else seen a monster movie?

    0 0
  26. Anonymous Coward
    Grenade

    Obligatory Python

    I'm not dead yet!

    (Holy hand grenade, of course.)

    0 0
  27. Old Man Greaves
    Joke

    crusade anyone?

    It takes a certain kind of person to persevere in the face of repeated defeats, potential bankruptcy and almost universal ire from the community.

    Some would say this is madness,

    They might say: "Madness!?, this is SCOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

    1 0
  28. AceBitbucket
    Pint

    In the FYI department

    Based on a morbid fascination with this train wreck, I have come to following conclusions. The Bankruptcy court does not want to be bothered; whatever arcane excuse SCO comes up with is fine. The guy in charge is either smoking something or has never actually read any of the financials so thinks SCO has a whizz-bang case. The only reason that I think that they keep flogging the poor beast is that the end of this case would/could mean the start of SCO vs IBM. Since SCO NEVER EVER provided any proof of the alleged code violations and IBM lawyers are all Nazgul or worse, this even frightens SCO (maybe). IANAL.

    1 0
  29. Mike Dimmick

    A dissenting opinion

    The terms of the original contract were pretty clear. Novell intended to sell, and SCO intended to buy, the copyrights. The contract simply makes no sense without transferring the copyrights. It's just that they were inexplicably omitted from the actual bill of sale portion of the contract detailing what was being transferred.

    Novell's lawyers were either extremely fiendish when drawing up the contract, or, much more likely, incompetent.

    What SCO is trying to do is to get the courts to read a term into the contract, that transfers the copyrights. They clearly always believed that they did own the copyrights, and it took Novell a suspiciously long time to start the 'you don't actually own it' defence. Courts can infer terms in contracts if it's clear there was a drafting error, and certainly in person-to-person contracts if the contract is grossly unfair to one party. However, companies are meant to know what they're doing.

    0 4
    1. Vic
      Reply Icon

      @Mike Dimmick

      > The terms of the original contract were pretty clear. Novell intended to

      > sell, and SCO intended to buy, the copyrights.

      Yes, that's true. Sadly, Santa Cruz (the SCO that existed at the time) couldn't afford to buy what they wanted, so the deal was changed. SCO got the business at a much reduced price, but they didn't get everything they'd initially wanted - Novel retained the copyrights and the right to the royalty stream. They paid 5% of that stream to SCO as a fee for running the sales side of the business.

      Santa Cruz told Caldera all about this when they sold the business on.

      > The contract simply makes no sense without transferring the copyrights.

      No, that's completely wrong. The contract makes lots of sense, it just doesn't do what SCO want it to do.

      > It's just that they were inexplicably omitted from the actual bill of sale portion

      > of the contract detailing what was being transferred.

      It's completely explicable: Santa Cruz couldn't afford what they wanted, so they couldn't buy it. They bought a small portion of it, because that's all they could afford.

      > What SCO is trying to do is to get the courts to read a term into the contract,

      > that transfers the copyrights.

      Yes. But what several courts have told them is that that clause simply isn't in the contract, and never has been. Santa Cruz didn't buy the copyrights, so they couldn't sell them to Caldera. Caldera has no right to sue over copyrights they do not own.

      > They clearly always believed that they did own the copyrights

      This isn't true either - they only started asserting ownership once Novell had said they wren't interested in joining the SCOSource scam.

      > Courts can infer terms in contracts if it's clear there was a drafting error

      they can. And several courts have now determined that there was no drafting error. The contract really does mean what it says - copyrights were excluded from the sale.

      Vic.

      2 0
    2. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      @Mike Dimmick

      "The terms of the original contract were pretty clear. Novell intended to sell, and SCO intended to buy, the copyrights. The contract simply makes no sense without transferring the copyrights. It's just that they were inexplicably omitted from the actual bill of sale portion of the contract detailing what was being transferred."

      Thank you for that admirably succinct description of The SCO Group's position.

      They remain scumbag patent trolls.

      0 0

  30. This post has been deleted by its author

  31. elderlybloke
    Pint

    Have the Lawyer been paid

    their fixed fee ?

    If not they are in danger of loosing out.

    What a shame.

    0 0
  32. Martin Howe
    FAIL

    It's like the Predator and A L I E N movie franchises

    It JUST WON'T DIE!

    1 0
  33. Captain Thyratron

    The thing that should not be.

    It's a perpetual motion machine of litigation--lawsuits about lawsuits about lawsuits and so forth. With fascinated horror and disgust, we behold an abomination that does not appear to make physical sense; we keep trying to find the hidden battery cable (or source of money, as the case may be.)

    1 0
  34. norman
    FAIL

    Dead?

    Ah, The SCO Group, such wonderful plumage...

    But seriously, the endless retries keeps The SCO group's execs out of criminal charges for the conversion of Novell's $16 million.

    /Remember, this is not the old "SCO", but "The SCO Group"; formerly known as Caldera.

    //The name change was intended to confuse a judge/jury/world into thinking they had rights to reinterpret a contract signed by "Old SCO".

    1 0

Page:

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like