Legal aspects [was: anybody else see darl on teevee?]

[Matthew Carpenter]

Chong Yu Meng wrote:

> Actually, I find the whole SCO case very, very unsettling. Maybe I'm 
> becoming paranoid as I approach middle age (which I will be in less 
> than 2 months from now). It seems to me that you can bring a lawsuit 
> against anybody for anything nowadays. You don't even have to tell 
> them what they did wrong or anything. A lot of people say that 
> Singapore (where I live) is a "police-state", but I don't see how the 
> States is any different if I can sue my customers/neighbours/etc., 
> without showing evidence of wrong-doing. Isn't that the same as 
> detention without trial?
>
> I don't mean to insult anyone, but if somebody can explain the process 
> in this lawsuit (and counter-suit by IBM) to me, that would really help!

Not insulted, Pascal.

I suppose it goes back to our rights to bring lawsuit based on our 
beliefs of what is "right".  The courts can't sumarily dismiss SCO for 
some reason or another, probably because they whined just right... and 
because we believe in letting people bring their case if they can afford 
it. Because their suit is a "Contractual" suit, it can be a little 
tricky since location matters, and the contract, understanding, etc... 
matters.  And SCO was probably pretty convincing to the untechnical that 
IBM had done something wrong, and wanted a chance to prove it.  And IBM 
is a big company who can afford the probe.

While I tend to wish SCO could fall off the face of the Earth right now, 
I can't complain about our rights to bring grievances before a Judge or 
Jury in hopes of justice.
If a lawsuit is indeed frivolous (whiny and without cause) there are 
ways to "correct" the offending party to ensure they don't do so again.

The difficulty comes when two companies are fighting, who can afford 
many lawyers and the process cost, many larger companies decide to just 
pay off the rabid dog biting their heel rather than continue in court.
I don't personally have that kind of cash, so there is seldom a time 
when I'm personally concerned about being that type of a target.