Experts dismiss SCO threat

SCO's claim against Linux users unlikely to hit UK firms, say law specialists

IT Week, 27 May 2003

Legal experts last week said that it is highly unlikely Linux customers will be affected by SCO's warnings that they may face financial liabilities relating to its current legal dispute over intellectual property rights relating to Linux and Unix.

SCO is suing IBM, arguing that its Unix copyrights have been infringed by IBM and possibly other operating system vendors, and those suppliers' customers. On 12 May SCO sent letters to about 1,500 companies warning them of potential liabilities.

However, George Gardiner, a partner at law firm Stephenson Harwood, said that UK firms need not take legal advice just yet. "I'd be extremely surprised if this claim has any substance in the UK," he said.

SCO, however, has said customers should contact local lawyers for their advice.

Many analysts have dismissed SCO's claim that the Linux operating system is an unauthorised derivative of Unix as a sign of desperation.

Gary Barnett, research director of analyst firm Ovum, predicted that SCO will reach a settlement with IBM, or be acquired by it, for a sum that is a fraction of the $1bn minimum claimed in its lawsuit.

"As things unfold, and SCO unravels, I doubt that SCO will achieve the results that it is looking for and believe that IBM and Linux are very unlikely to suffer significant damage as a consequence of SCO's actions," Barnett wrote in a research note. "People using Linux do not need to call their lawyers - they have months not weeks before the issue will be resolved."

However, in a paper on SCO, Linux expert Eric Raymond said a judgement in favour of SCO could do serious damage to the open-source community.

"SCO's implication of wider claims could turn Linux into an intellectual-property minefield, with potential users and allies perpetually wary of being mugged by previously unasserted IP claims," he wrote.

Microsoft last week fanned the flames by saying it would license SCO source code and patents to show Microsoft's "commitment to respecting intellectual property and the IT community's healthy exchange of intellectual property through licensing."