EV1 PAYS UP -- BUT SHOULD IT HAVE DONE SO?

BBC News has reported that US company EV1 Servers has bought a licence to use Linux from SCO, which claims that some its intellectual property has been illegally included in Linux’s open source software, even though SCO's claim to own some of the code inside Linux has yet to be tested by the US courts. Although SCO says other companies have bought Linux licences, EV1 is the only company to come out of the closet and admit it’s done so.

In March 2003 SCO filed a lawsuit against IBM, alleging that the computer giant had illegally put some of its Unix computer code into Linux. IBM disputes the claim. Soon after launching that legal action SCO urged Linux users to buy licences to use the intellectual property contained in the software, threatening that those without a licence might face lawsuits later on. SCO's actions have enraged many in the Linux and open source movement who dispute the claims of ownership. The fact that SCO has yet to publicly disclose which bits of the venerable Unix operating system it believes are being illegally used in Linux has only fuelled doubts about its claims.

The IPKat condemns SCO’s refusal to go public as to which bits of Linux it claims to own and urges all right-minded Linux users to stick together in the face of SCO’s ungentlemanly way of seeking to enforce its alleged rights. Also, noting that the amount paid by EV1 to SCO has remained undisclosed, the suspicious feline wonders whether EV1’s licence is even a genuine one, or whether it is just a collusive put-up job to encourage other prospective licensees to do likewise.

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