Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
The latest share issue will dilute shareholders' investments about 3.5 percent. It comes on top of a previously announced arrangement giving Boies, Schiller & Flexner a 20-percent share in SCO if the company were sold. SCO also received an investment of $50 million from BayStar Capital in return for 17.5 percent of outstanding shares. We believe that these moves compromise SCO's mission as a software company. Increasingly, the legal and financial aspects of the intellectual property infringement cases will absorb the company's attention, and a law firm will be in an increasingly powerful position to set the overall agenda for its compensation. Therefore, SCO will likely pursue claims against Linux users quickly."
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Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 15:40 UTC (Thu) by vblum (guest, #1151) [Link]
"Where feasible, delay deployment of high-performance systems until the end of 1Q04 to see what SCO will do."Hm ... now should I be happy that the wording is at least "delay ... until" instead of "don't"?
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 15:41 UTC (Thu) by gnb (subscriber, #5132) [Link]
Particularly encouraging is the second point on their list of recommendation to thosewith Linux deployments: that they not pay up until/unless SCO win a court judgement
suggesting that they do own some Linux IP.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 21, 2003 1:44 UTC (Fri) by icc (guest, #9514) [Link]
I don think they are saying that SCO owns IP on Linux. They just said "Don't pay unless SCO can prove there case". Of course, if they do prove (and that's a BIG if), I would move to BSD. :D
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 21, 2003 2:36 UTC (Fri) by snitm (guest, #4031) [Link]
If any code is found to be SCO's (purchased UNIX code.. should point that out given SCO really never contributed a whole hell of a lot to the kernel) the offending code will be expunged from Linux in days. And users can go on using Linux with no worries.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 15:59 UTC (Thu) by trutkin (guest, #3919) [Link]
I don't think it would be a good thing if SCO lost because they ran out of money and/or IBMoutspent them. That would give them a moral victory. We want to win by showing that they
and their arguments are wrong.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 16:42 UTC (Thu) by ballombe (subscriber, #9523) [Link]
Unfortunately this is very unlikely to happen.As soon as financial analysts will believe that SCO will loose,
the stock will drop to nothyng and the opportunuity of SCO to
gather money will vanish.
Unless SCO case is dismissed early, it is unlikely that SCO
keep running to the end.
In fact, I expect Canopy to have already planned to get rid of SCO
as soon as it is no more a useful tool for them.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 16:49 UTC (Thu) by ccchips (subscriber, #3222) [Link]
Please remember this is a 3-headed monster:1. Terrorism and betrayal of Linux supporters
2. Pump-and-dump
3. (possibly Microsoft-instigated) FUD campaign.
If SCO is to go, we must continue to attack all three of these. When they start to get really worried about a stock crash, they will become far more active on the other 2 fronts.
That would probably be a good time for disenfranchised and disillunsiond employees from all the instigators to come forward about all three behaviors, and get to the press with them:
1. How much code has SCO stolen (which is why they have such a big mouth and are terrorizing people)
2. How does the stock scheme work?
3. What is the connection between SCO and Microsoft, or SCO and SUN?
If #3's are in fact nonsense, that still leaves 2 heads.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 17:28 UTC (Thu) by djabsolut (guest, #12799) [Link]
I'd be worried by #2 the most. Back in the good-ol' days of the .com insanity on the stockmarket, any stock with a connection to the internet (and later Linux) went sky-high. There was no logic involved, just a bunch of uninformed sheep buying the stock. I fear this may happen again: Google is making loud noises that it will do an IPO. The stockmarket insanity starts again. Google uses Linux. SCO starts making anti-Linux noises pointed at Google (or sues them): bingo, SCO's stock is now "connected" with Google's stock (via sheep mentality), and is riding the wave up and up.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 20:17 UTC (Thu) by jre (guest, #2807) [Link]
So --Does this mean that we now need to pass the hat, have a bake sale, take up a collection for the SCO legal defense fund, just so we can keep them alive long enough to kick their asses fair and square?
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 21:06 UTC (Thu) by trutkin (guest, #3919) [Link]
Ha ha ha. That's great. I think I would donate to that.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 21:38 UTC (Thu) by rev (guest, #15082) [Link]
I was thinking this very same thing this afternoon. Seriously. It would be a pity if SCO would go bankrupt A SCO bankrupcy would no doubt be exploited as a FUD point (see what happens if you get involved in this OSS IP mess?). Not only that, there is reason to believe there's going to be another SCO. So in the long run it might be best to keep SCO alive until it can be beaten the shit out of in the courts so that it serves as a deterent for a company that might otherwise be tempted to find istelf another SCO.In addition, the OSS community donating a substantial amount of $$ to "keep SCO afloat so that it lies and FUD can be squashed in the courtroom" would be a pretty bold PR move that is in my mind likely to make some journalist wonder whether SCO is right after all.
Just a wild idea.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 22:41 UTC (Thu) by mmarq (guest, #2332) [Link]
Good point...The thing that i found most disgusting about the possibility of another SCO, is that "shepherd mentality", that, the better way to make a living, is to steal from everybody else values and merits...
And if you really think about it, then the conclusion that most strikes the mind, is that there isn't sheep without a shepherd, or better, when you can only see flocks of sheep the shepperd is not far.
So better than beat SCO, the community must really think about not being sheep to anyone or anything, and play together very loud the Open Standards horn so that the patents shepherds can stay away.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 20:45 UTC (Thu) by ccchips (subscriber, #3222) [Link]
My God....read what you just wrote, as if you were someone else!!You may be right, but I simply can't believe I'm reading it. Did I get dropped onto the wrong planet or something? Maybe held back a grade? Is it some kind of prison planet, or an insane asylum planet?
I mean, it's almost as if there are knobs you can twiddle, if you can find them, to control the stock market. Maybe even drop in a few baffles and conduits to guide all the money your way.....
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 21, 2003 16:40 UTC (Fri) by copsewood (subscriber, #199) [Link]
We needn't worry about SCO running out of money. Microsoft will give them all they need. Well, of course until Microsoft themselves goes belly up based on thier employee share-options pyramid scheme and consequent dodgy Enron-style accounting that is.
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 20, 2003 22:18 UTC (Thu) by mmarq (guest, #2332) [Link]
"Therefore, SCO will likely pursue claims against Linux users quickly" Why dont the Gartner Group, put the things as they are, that is, because of shortage of funds, SCO will recur to extorting linux users...
Which by the way i really think is not possible, since unless they have a court rule of some sort, any selling of Linux licences, today, is a fraud, even if, in an impossible scenario, SCO is give right tomorow.
So the conclusion should have being obvious, consedering that IBM trial is going to happen in 2005:
"Therefore, SCO is an empty shell heading for bankruptcy, and that might not be alive by the time the IBM trial finishes."
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 21, 2003 14:14 UTC (Fri) by walterbyrd (guest, #11620) [Link]
>>Why dont the Gartner Group, put the things as they are, that is, because of shortage of funds, SCO will recur to extorting linux users...<<Because Gartner Group is indirectly owned by msft. Gartner is trying to appear objective. But the article tries to make it seem as if scox is a credible threat, and because of scox it is very risky to use linux.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/34123.html
from /.
"George Weiss of Gartner has published a paper with some interesting recommendations regarding SCO. They include
1) Keep a low profile and do not divulge details on Linux deployments.
2) Until a judgment in a case would unequivocally warrant it, Linux users should not pay SCO the license fees it has asked for to settle its allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights.
3) Do not permit SCO to audit your premises without legal authorization.
4) For customers of SCO Open Server and UnixWare, an unfavorable judgment could cause SCO to cease operations or sell itself. That could harm future support and maintenance. Just in case, prepare a plan for migrating to another platform within two years."
This /. comment hits the nail on the head.
"Thanks, Gartner....
Maybe next month they can do a helpful piece on not paying a parking ticket until you've been issued one, and then only if it was issued by a real Dept. of Traffic officer, and not some homeless guy who wrote the citation on a napkin."
Gartner: SCO's Legal Fees Could Jeopardize Its Software Business
Posted Nov 21, 2003 4:03 UTC (Fri) by bajw (guest, #11712) [Link]
The nearest analogy I can think of is that SCO and their ilk are trying to sell maps of a flat world in a geo-centric universe, and are finding fewer and fewer buyers these days, now that we know better, having heard from Galileo and Copernicus.-BA