SCO Guilty of Lying About Unix Code in Linux

In the United States, SCOs Linux/Unix litigation has been stalled out while the companys bankruptcy trial is being dealt with. In Germany, however, several court cases have found SCO Group GmbH, SCOs Germany branch, guilty of lying about Linux containing stolen Unix code.

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In the first case, reported on by Heise Online, the pro-Linux German companiesTarent GmbH and Univention found that SCO was once more making claims that Linux contained Unix IP (intellectual property). Specifically, SCO GmbH made the familiar claims that "As we have progressed in our discovery related to this action, SCO has found compelling evidence that the Linux operating system contains unauthorized SCO UNIX intellectual property (IP)." This was followed by the usual threat "If a customer refuses to compensate SCO for its UNIX intellectual property found in Linux by purchasing a license, then SCO may consider litigation."

The German Linux companies had already successfully protested against these statements in 2003. Then they were granted an injunction against SCO from making its claims that Linux contains illegally obtained SCO IP, a.k.a. Unix source code. If SCO violated this injunction, SCO would have to pay a fine of 250,000 Euros.

Since Tarent and Univention brought the matter to the attention of the courts, SCO has taken down the offending page with its claims.

Of course, in the U.S. court system, it has already been ruled that SCO has no Unix IP. Novell, not SCO, owns Unix.

Read the full story on Linux-Watch.com: SCO Guilty of Lying About Unix Code in Linux in Germany