SCO reveals Linux legal targets
Published: 03 Mar 2004 14:50 GMT
SCO Group is targetting lawsuits at auto parts retailer AutoZone and automaker DaimlerChrysler in its continuing legal battle over the Unix and Linux operating systems.
The software company alleges that AutoZone "violated SCO's Unix copyrights by running versions of the Linux operating system that contain code, structure, sequence and/or organisation from SCO's proprietary Unix System V code in violation of SCO's copyrights", according to a statement from the company on Wednesday.
Later on Wednesday, SCO plans to file suit against DaimlerChrysler in Michigan's Oakland County Circuit for alleged violations of the automotive company's Unix software agreement with SCO.
DaimlerChrysler, based in Stuttgart, Germany, and with US offices in Auburn Hills, Michigan, was not immediately available for comment.
Memphis, Tennessee-based AutoZone has about 3,000 stores nationwide. Company representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. The AutoZone lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Nevada, requests injunctive relief against AutoZone's further use or copying of any part of SCO's copyrighted materials and also requests damages as a result of AutoZone's infringement in an amount to be proven at trial.
SCO's demands in the DaimlerChrysler case are similar.
Separately, the company announced Wednesday a wider loss for its fiscal first quarter. The company said its net loss, after paying preferred dividends, was $2.25m (£1.2m), or 16 cents per share, compared with a loss of $724,000, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter, which ended on 31 January, fell to $11.4m from $13.5m in the same period a year ago.
One analyst -- the only one listed at First Call, which surveys financial expectations -- had predicted that SCO would turn in a loss of 22 cents per share for the quarter. Revenue projections for SCO from a pair of analysts were for $10m and $14.4m.
SCO said it will further discuss the AutoZone lawsuit on Wednesday as part of its earnings call.
Lawsuits have long been expected
SCO chief executive Darl McBride announced on Monday plans to file a suit, but he didn't identify the company. SCO threatened in November to sue Linux users, although it missed a self-imposed mid-February deadline to do so. On Tuesday, a company representative said there was a "high possibility" that the company would announce two suits on Wednesday.
SCO, which owns a disputed amount of Unix intellectual property, inherited the agreements by which inventor AT&T and its successors licensed the operating system to IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, numerous universities and others. SCO has sued IBM for more than $5bn in damages, alleging Big Blue violated its Unix contract by moving Unix technology to Linux that it should have kept secret.
IBM denies wrongdoing and has countersued SCO for patent infringement. Meanwhile, Novell, a previous Unix owner, claims it owns Unix copyrights, forcing SCO to sue to establish ownership. And Linux seller Red Hat has sued SCO to try to establish that Linux doesn't violate SCO copyrights or trade secrets.
SCO argues that companies must pay for a SCO intellectual property license to use Linux and thus avoid legal action -- a license that costs $699 for a single-processor server. On Monday, EV1Servers.net became the first company to acknowledge signing up for the programme.
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