Timeline of SCO-Linux controversies - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

SCO Group

TSG Group, Inc. is a software company formerly called The SCO Group, Caldera Systems, and Caldera International. After acquiring the Santa Cruz Operation's Server Software and Services divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, the company changed its focus to UNIX...

is currently involved in a dispute

SCO-Linux controversies

The SCO-Linux controversies are a series of legal and public disputes between the software company SCO Group and various Linux vendors and users. The SCO Group alleges that its license agreements with IBM means that source code that IBM wrote and donated to be incorporated into Linux was added in...

with various Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

vendors and users. SCO has initiated a series of lawsuits that will probably define the future of both Linux and Unix

Unix

Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...

. In this campaign SCO is trying to convince the world that Linux violates some of SCO's intellectual properties

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

. Many people are sceptical of SCO's claims, and they are strongly contested by SCO's opponents in the lawsuits, some of which have launched counter-claims.

Timeline

January 2003

SCO retains lawyer David Boies

David Boies

David Boies is an American lawyer and chairman of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner. He has been involved in various high-profile cases in the United States.-Early life and education:...

, announcing that they would be investigating infringement on their intellectual property pertaining to their ownership of UNIX. Over the next several months, the executives of SCO issue a number of press releases and public statements alleging unspecified violations of their UNIX intellectual property rights in Linux. They also begin to raise questions of the validity of the GPL

GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....

March 2003

SCO sues IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

over its contributions to Linux, claiming that IBM stole UNIX trade secret

Trade secret

A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers...

s and gave them to Linux kernel

Linux kernel

The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....

developers. The suit was filed originally in the Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

State Court, but was immediately removed to Federal Court.

See also: SCO v. IBM
SCO v. IBM
SCO v. IBM is a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court of Utah. The SCO Group asserted that there are legal uncertainties regarding the use of the Linux operating system due to alleged violations of IBM's Unix licenses in the development of Linux code at IBM.-Summary:On March 6, 2003,...

.

May 2003

The SCO Group says they sent letters to 1,500 of the world's largest corporations, including the Fortune 500

Fortune 500

The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...

companies, alleging that the use of Linux may infringe a copyright they hold on the original UNIX source code. They say that the Linux kernel

Linux kernel

The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....

, the core of the operating system contains copyrighted SCO source code. In this letter they also announce the suspension of their own Linux-related activities.

July 2003

The SCO Group files an amended complaint.

August 2003

SCO announces that they intend to issue invoices to companies using Linux.

Red Hat

Red Hat, Inc. is an S&P 500 company in the free and open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide....

files suit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware

United States District Court for the District of Delaware

The United States District Court for the District of Delaware is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington...

asking for a permanent injunction blocking SCO from asserting that Red Hat infringed on SCO's intellectual property with their Linux product.

See also: Red Hat v. SCO
Red Hat v. SCO
The Red Hat v. SCO lawsuit - Red Hat filed suit against The SCO Group on August 4, 2003. Red Hat is asking for a permanent injunction against SCO's Linux campaign and a number of declaratory judgments that Red Hat has not violated SCO's copyrights....

.

IBM files its counterclaims, alleging that SCO has violated the GPL

GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....

, several patents, and the Lanham Act

Lanham Act

The Lanham Act is a piece of legislation that contains the federal statutes of trademark law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising.-History:Named for Representative Fritz G...

by falsely accusing IBM of violating SCO's IP rights.

September 2003

SCO CEO, Darl McBride

Darl McBride

Darl Charles McBride is the former CEO of The SCO Group. He became the CEO of Caldera International on June 28, 2002.On March 7, 2003, during McBride's tenure as CEO of the company, The SCO Group initiated litigation against IBM, alleging breach of contract and copyright infringement claims...

, writes an open letter to the free software community

Free software community

The free-software community is an informal term that refers to the users and developers of free software as well as supporters of the free-software movement. The movement is sometimes referred to as the open-source software community or a subset thereof...

. In this letter he accuses the free software community of being responsible for recent DDoS attacks on the SCO website and once again asserts that Linux violates SCO's intellectual properties.

IBM files amended counterclaims, including a claim of copyright infringement.

October 2003

BayStar Capital and Royal Bank of Canada invest $US50 million in SCO to support the legal cost of the SCOsource program.

SCO announces that it would not attempt invoicing Linux users after being threatened with mail fraud.

December 2003

SCO sends a letter to all Unix licensees asking them to certify certain questions regarding the use of Linux.

SCO sends a letter claiming ownership of the Linux ABI

Application binary interface

In computer software, an application binary interface describes the low-level interface between an application program and the operating system or another application.- Description :...

code.

January 2004

SCO sends a letter to the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

, raising issues such as the economics of open source development and the legality of the GPL

GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....

SCO files slander of title suit against Novell

Novell

Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...

See also: SCO v. Novell
SCO v. Novell
SCO v. Novell was a United States lawsuit in which the The SCO Group claimed ownership of the source code for the Unix operating system, including portions of Linux...

.

February 2004

The SCO Group becomes the target of the Mydoom computer worm

Computer worm

A computer worm is a self-replicating malware computer program, which uses a computer network to send copies of itself to other nodes and it may do so without any user intervention. This is due to security shortcomings on the target computer. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach...

, which was programmed to launch a denial of service attack on the company's website beginning on February 1, 2004. The Group has also been the subject of a Google bomb

Google bomb

The terms Google bomb and Googlewashing refer to practices, such as creating large numbers of links, that cause a web page to have a high ranking for searches on unrelated or off topic keyword phrases, often for comical or satirical purposes...

attack. Google returns SCO's website as the number one hit for the phrase "litigious bastards."

SCO files a second amended complaint against IBM. It drops the trade secret claims, but adds claims of copyright infringement.

March 2004

SCO files suit against AutoZone

AutoZone

AutoZone is a retailer and distributor of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories. based in Memphis, Tennessee.-History:Originally a division of Memphis-based wholesale grocer Malone & Hyde, the company went under the name Auto Shack...

in Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

state court.

See also: SCO v. AutoZone.

SCO files suit against DaimlerChrysler

DaimlerChrysler

Daimler AG is a German car corporation. By unit sales, it is the thirteenth-largest car manufacturer and second-largest truck manufacturer in the world. In addition to automobiles, Daimler manufactures buses and provides financial services through its Daimler Financial Services arm...

See also: SCO v. DaimlerChrysler
SCO v. DaimlerChrysler
The SCO Group v. DaimlerChrysler was a lawsuit filed in the United States, in the state of Michigan. In December 2003, SCO sent a number of letters to Unix licensees. In these letters, SCO demanded that the licensees certify certain things regarding their usage of Linux. DaimlerChrysler, a former...

.

IBM files second amended counterclaims.

April 2004

The Red Hat v. SCO case is stayed until resolution of the SCO v. IBM case.

May 2004

IBM files motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Claim for Declaratory Judgment of Non-Infringement. This would confirm that IBM has not infringed on any SRVx code in its Linux activities.

June 2004

The SCO v. Novell case is dismissed due to inadequate pleading of special damages.

July 2004

The SCO v. AutoZone case is stayed pending the SCO v. IBM case.

All claims in the SCO v. DaimlerChrysler case are dismissed except on the matter of breach of section 2.05, in that DC did not submit their response in a timely manner.

SCO files an amended complaint in SCO v. Novell.

August 2004

IBM files motion for partial summary judgment on Breach of Contract Claims in SCO v. IBM. This judgement would confirm that the AT&T license agreement placed no restrictions on derivative works.

IBM files motion for partial summary judgment on its counterclaim for copyright infringement in SCO v. IBM. This judgement would find SCO guilty of copyright infringement of IBM's contributions to Linux.

Novell files a motion to dismiss.

December 2004

SCO v. DaimlerChrysler case is dismissed without prejudice

Prejudice (law)

There are two meanings for "prejudice" in legal proceedings; civil and criminal.-Civil procedure:Within legal civil procedure, prejudice is a loss or injury, and refers specifically to a formal determination against a claimed legal right or cause of action. Thus, in a civil case, dismissal without...

based on stipulation of the parties. If SCO wishes to pursue the remaining claim (i.e. whether DaimlerChrysler replied in a timely manner) again, they must pay DaimlerChrysler's legal fees from August 9, 2004.

SCO appeals to Michigan Court of Appeals

Michigan Court of Appeals

The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965...

January, 2005

SCO's appeal of the DaimlerChrysler case is dismissed.

February, 2005

IBM's motions for partial summary judgment are denied without prejudice, to be refiled after the close of discovery.

July 2005

Novell files its answer with the court, denying SCO's claims.

Novell files counterclaims asking the court to force SCO to turn over the revenues it had received from UNIX licenses, less a 5% administrative fee. Additionally, Novell asks the court to place the funds in a "constructive trust" in order to ensure that SCO can pay Novell since the company's assets are depleting rapidly.

December 2005

Final deadline passes in SCO v. IBM to disclose allegedly misused material with specificity. SCO provides IBM with a list of 294 alleged violations.

January 2006

SCO files a second amended complaint against Novell. It adds claims of copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...

, unfair competition

Unfair competition

Unfair competition in a sense means that the competitors compete on unequal terms, because favourable or disadvantageous conditions are applied to some competitors but not to others; or that the actions of some competitors actively harm the position of others with respect to their ability to...

and breach of a non-compete agreement.

April 2006

SuSE (now owned by Novell) files an arbitration request with the ICC International Court of Arbitration. It asks to preclude SCO from asserting proprietary rights to any code in UnitedLinux.

Novell files a motion to stay the case pending the resolution of SuSE arbitration.

May 2006

SCO and IBM exchange initial expert reports.

June 2006

Most of the items on SCO's list of allegedly misused material are stricken by the magistrate judge in SCO v. IBM due to lack of specificity.

April 2007

SCO brings Pamela Jones

Pamela Jones

Pamela Jones, commonly known as PJ, is the creator and editor of Groklaw, an award-winning website that covers legal news of interest to the free and open-source software community...

of Groklaw

Groklaw

Groklaw is an award-winning website covering legal news of interest to the free and open source software community. Started as a law blog on May 16, 2003 by paralegal Pamela Jones at Radio UserLand, it has covered issues such as the SCO-Linux lawsuits, the EU anti-trust case against Microsoft, and...

into both SCO v. IBM and SCO v. Novell cases. They claim that they have attempted to serve Ms Jones although she denies knowledge of any such attempts.

August 2007

The SCO v. Novell
SCO v. Novell
SCO v. Novell was a United States lawsuit in which the The SCO Group claimed ownership of the source code for the Unix operating system, including portions of Linux...

court case concludes that "Novell

Novell

is the owner of the Unix

Unix

and UnixWare

UnixWare

UnixWare is a Unix operating system maintained by The SCO Group . UnixWare is typically deployed as a server rather than desktop. Binary distributions of UnixWare are available for x86 architecture computers. It was originally released by Univel, a jointly owned venture of AT&T's Unix System...

copyrights."

September 2007

SCO files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, automatically staying all lawsuits.

November 2007

Novell

succeeded in getting a court to lift SCO

SCO Group

's Chapter 11 immunity from legal action and will continue with legal action against SCO

SCO Group

December 2007

SCO

SCO Group

stock is delisted from the NASDAQ

NASDAQ

The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...

stock exchange.

July 2008

Novell

granted award of 2.5 million against SCO.

August 2009

Tenth Circuit appeals court partially reverses summary judgment in SCO v. Novell

SCO v. Novell

SCO v. Novell was a United States lawsuit in which the The SCO Group claimed ownership of the source code for the Unix operating system, including portions of Linux...

, deciding that an issue of fact was present that should have been reserved for a trial.

March 2010

Following a Jury trial, Novell, not SCO, is declared the owner of UNIX licenses. SCO decides to continue the lawsuit against IBM for causing a decline in SCO revenues.

May 2010

Remaining issues in SCO v. Novell
SCO v. Novell
SCO v. Novell was a United States lawsuit in which the The SCO Group claimed ownership of the source code for the Unix operating system, including portions of Linux...

settled by the District Court in favor of Novell and against SCO.