From: "Rich Gauszka" 

from http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/31086.html

SCO's Second Amendment rebuffs Novell Unix claim By Ashlee Vance in San Francisco
Posted: 06/06/2003 at 20:01 GMT


The army of paper shufflers beavering away at the SCO Group has managed to
unearth a 1996 amendment powerful enough to block some of Novell's Unix
claims.

Amendment No. 2 found in a SCO file-cabinet last week appears to have to
set us back where we started in the Unix/Linux ownership saga. The document
alters a provision in the 1995 Asset Purchases Agreement between Novell and
SCO that nixed Unix copyrights from changing hands. SCO is now saying the
amendment confirms that Unix copyrights have been safely secured.

"There's nothing really new today," said Gordon Haff, an analyst
at Illuminata . "Though it does look like we're back to where we were
a week or so ago and that SCO really does own the right to AT&T
Unix."

Novell has been trying to spoil SCO's billion dollar attack on IBM. Last
month, Novell argued that it did not agree to transfer copyrights and
patents for Unix System V to SCO.

Now, however, the company has been forced to back off a tad.

"The amendment appears to support SCO's claim that ownership of
certain copyrights for Unix did transfer to SCO in 1996," Novell said
in a statement.

Even with the setback, Novell is still slinging challenges at SCO and its IP crusade.

"The amendment does not address ownership of patents, however, which
clearly remain with Novell. Novell reiterates its request to SCO to address
the fundamental issue Novell raised in its May 28 letter : SCO's still
unsubstantiated claims against the Linux community."

It's an amazing coincidence that a SCO paralegal could find such a helpful
document so quickly after Novell voiced its complaints. SCO's paperwork
precision is clearly getting to the Linux zealots, as one jumped on a SCO
conference call, pretending to be an analyst.

The faux "George Weiss" from Gartner demanded that SCO explain
what it is trying to accomplish as an IP shop. Some real analysts on the
call appreciated the imposter's direct line of questioning.

"There is the very real question that SCO has never answered which is
'what do they want out of this?'" said Illuminata's Haff.
"Protecting your IP is fine, but what do you want?" R

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-4