SCO Presents Proof of Unix Copyright Claims

"We expect to hear a range of customer issues over the coming month, and we will make every reasonable effort to address these customer concerns," McBride said.

But some of the parties who started receiving the NDAs this month say they are completely unacceptable. So far, the criticism revolves around the fact that SCO will determine exactly what code it shows; any dispute over potential disagreements about whether information under the NDA was disclosed would have to be resolved in Utah courts; and, lastly, any information that SCO shares with those agreeing to the NDA can not be discussed, even if it is public information or the person is aware of it before SCO shows it to them.

Senior members of the open-source community are warning potential NDA signers to be very careful before doing so as such a move could endanger current open-source projects, including Linux and BSD.

SCOs McBride said Friday that the company was still working on a possible resolution with IBM about its AIX Unix license. SCO has given IBM notice that it intends to revoke its AIX license on June 13 if the company does not comply with its licensing terms. "If the matter is not resolved by Monday, June 16, from that point onward we will be taking the appropriate steps to enforce the contract rights we have and the ability to revoke the AIX license," he said.