Latest BS from SCO

[sjardine@acm.org]

Hello all,

    Thought some of you might like to see what the latest tactic from SCO is
regarding Linux...


    Steve


Dear SCO Partner:

As a SCO Partner, we thank you for your support and continued business=2E B=
ecause you are a valued partner, it is important that we make you aware of =
important SCO business decisions and announcements as soon as possible=2E A=
s such, we wanted to make you aware of an important announcement made today=
=2E

This communication is about recent efforts SCO has made to license and prot=
ect our patents, copyrights and intellectual property pertaining to the UNI=
X(r) operating system=2E  As you know, on March 7, 2003 SCO announced that =
it filed legal action against IBM in the State Court of Utah, for misapprop=
riation of trade secrets, tortuous interference, unfair competition and bre=
ach of contract=2E The complaint alleged that IBM made concentrated efforts=
 to improperly destroy the economic value of UNIX, particularly UNIX on Int=
el, to benefit IBM's new Linux services business=2E

As we have progressed in our discovery related to this action, SCO has foun=
d compelling evidence that the Linux operating system contains unauthorized=
 SCO UNIX intellectual property (IP)=2E  Due to this discovery, we are taki=
ng three immediate courses of action=2E=20

1 - The first is to send a letter alerting commercial users to the fact tha=
t legal liability for the use of Linux by businesses may extend to end user=
s=2E Customers should start receiving this letter today=2E For your informa=
tion, a copy of this letter may be found at:
http://www=2Esco=2Ecom/scosource/letter_to_linux_customers=2Ehtml

2 - The second action we are taking is to suspend all future sales of the L=
inux operating system from SCO until the attendant risks with Linux are bet=
ter understood and properly resolved=2E=20

3 - Finally, although this action affects future development and sales of S=
CO's Linux offerings, SCO will continue to support our SCO Linux and OpenLi=
nux customers and partners who have previously implemented those products a=
nd we will hold them harmless from any SCO intellectual property issues reg=
arding Linux=2E SCO will continue to honor all contractual obligations with=
 existing customers including product updates, service, and support=2E

As many of you are already aware, SCO UNIX systems continue to sell well - =
including an increase in OpenServer sales over the previous quarter=2E Our =
UNIX products continue to support many of the world's largest businesses=2E=
 In addition, new customer sales indicate that there is still no better opt=
ion for rock-solid, dependable technology for their core businesses than ou=
r SCO UNIX solutions=2E

We are excited to be building on our SCO UNIX history as we roll out our ne=
xt generation UNIX operating system and SCOx framework this fall=2E SCOx wi=
ll allow small and medium business customers and branch offices to plug the=
ir existing applications into a Web services environment=2E Details of this=
 strategy will be unveiled at SCO Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada, August 17-19=
=2E (For more details, see: http://www=2Esco=2Ecom/2003forum )=2E

SCO remains committed to building new business opportunities for our partne=
rs such as you=2E We recognize that you have depended on us to provide reli=
able, solid technologies for your customers for over twenty years=2E We loo=
k forward to helping you and your customers meet your business needs for th=
e next twenty years=2E

Sincerely,

Darl McBride
President and CEO
The SCO Group