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Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund
Red Hat has announced
the filing of a complaint against SCO: "The purpose of this complaint is to demonstrate
that Red Hat's technologies do not infringe any intellectual property
of SCO and to hold SCO accountable for its unfair and deceptive
actions." The release does not say anything about how or where the
complaint was filed. The company has also launched the "Open Source Now
Fund," the purpose of which is to help defend companies against
infringement claims. The company has pledged $1 million for this
fund.
Update: listening to the press conference over the phone has been a difficult experience, to say the least, but we were able to catch that the complaint comes in two parts. The first is a request for a summary judgement that Red Hat has not violated SCO's copyrights or disclosed any SCO trade secrets. The second is a request for a permanent injunction to stop SCO's anti-Linux campaign. (Log in to post comments)
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 17:51 UTC (Mon) by forlel (guest, #11028) [Link] Yes!!!Finally. I have been waiting for this for some time and the suspense was killing me. I predict that there will be several other companies filing similar suits in the U.S. in the near future. SCO Stepped into it when they tried to charge a license to Linux.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 18:09 UTC (Mon) by colink (guest, #274) [Link] This is interesting. Should the judge find for Red Hat in the first part, then by extension *all* distributors of the kernel should be indemnified.And the second part should have been done months ago.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 18:29 UTC (Mon) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link] There is another interesting aspect to the summary judgement request. Judges consider requests for summary judgements quickly - they are someout out-of-band with regard to a case as a whole. If SCO wants to try to block this judgement, it will almost certainly have to put its evidence on the table. So the real result (and purpose) of this exercise may be to finally force SCO to produce any evidence of infringement it might actually have.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 18:30 UTC (Mon) by sveinrn (guest, #2827) [Link] Lawyers are expensive. Shouldn't we all go and buy a copy of RedHat WS or a subscription to the RedHat Network to support them in this lawsuit?
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 18:59 UTC (Mon) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link] Should we all go buy some RedHat stuff?The Legal fights for Free Software are just beginning. Really, we should all be funding those who defend it for us. If the decision is: (a) buy RedHat stuff or (b) don't buy RedHat stuff. I'd go with (a). But that's not the decision. If you're willing to donate to help the legal battles of Free Software then you should look for the most effective use. I regularly donate to FSF. I know most of the staff, they're extremely dedicated and they're tight with money. I can't think of anyone that would make better use of my money. ...and I know I'm not just buying a new car for the Executive Director, he doesn't even own a car :) Ciaran O'Riordan
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 19:15 UTC (Mon) by sveinrn (guest, #2827) [Link] The FSF has been too passive this time, and I disagree with them on many important points. I think supporting RedHat is a better option for me personally this time, and I also think that will be a more efficient way of limiting the damages SCO is inflicting in the open source world.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 20:47 UTC (Mon) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link] > The FSF has been too passive this timeI understand your point. Right now, I'm working on the EU software patents issue. I used to get really frustrated wondering why FSFeurope weren't doing much. The thing is, the FSFs have limited resources and they work on the most needy task (which isn't always the most famous task). There was a time when FSF had 15 programmers on their payroll writing GNU but since hundreds of businesses now develop GPL'd software, FSF diverted it's attention and funding elsewhere. Right now, their focus is on GPL education, usage, and enforcement. Their secondary focus is on informing the public about Free Software (through many many speechs, and mainstream media articles and interviews that usually don't show up on our radars), and talking directly to politicians (in America, Europe, and India). Recently, the FSFe published a "Two year Executive Summary"[0] that outlined the work they had done. After I read it I understood why they hadn't been working on the patents issue. The patents issue has plenty of volunteers, the FSFe were working on other issues that needed attention. I've talked to Bradley Kuhn of FSF and Georg Greve of FSFe about publishing more info about what they do. Georg Greve replied: Bradley Kuhn had a similar response, they lack resources at the moment. On the SCO issue, they did make a statement[1], and it was FSF General Counsel Eben Moglen that worked on the OSDL positional paper, but yes, they haven't diverted much attention to the SCO issue. Ciaran O'Riordan [0] http://fsfeurope.org/documents/reports/es-2003.en.html
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 5, 2003 7:30 UTC (Tue) by pointwood (guest, #2814) [Link] Thanks for that updateon FSF! I've wondered about that myself more than once.They should be much better at informing about what they are doing. That would most likely also bring in more donations. People are much more likely to donate if they know what the money will be used for.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 23:14 UTC (Mon) by zonker (guest, #7867) [Link] The FSF has been too passive this timeI don't think the FSF has standing to do anything -- they don't own copyright over the code for the Linux kernel, and they don't distribute Linux per se, so I'm not sure what they could do legally.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 6, 2003 5:38 UTC (Wed) by bajw (guest, #11712) [Link] Yes! Contribute to the FSF!Put your money where it does the best good. -BA
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 20:08 UTC (Mon) by steven (guest, #13639) [Link] If there were a "Support Red Hat vs. SCO" PayPal account, I'd donate some :-)
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 21:48 UTC (Mon) by jdthood (guest, #4157) [Link] I hope that RedHat makes it easy for people to contribute to the fund.However, I would like to know how the fund is set up before donating.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 18:34 UTC (Mon) by skybunny (guest, #4478) [Link] I was fairly sure as soon as on July 22, when SCO announced they planned to charge licensing fees for unspecified Linux customers, that an IP/copyright lawsuit was short in coming that would prove exactly what SCO did and did not have the right to charge for - since at that time, charging licensing fees would be based on SCO's say-so of what they owned. What I wasn't sure of is who the plantiff would be.We have our answer. In asking for a summary judgement, and permanent injunction, RedHat seems to be trying to squelch SCO's campaign quickly - a judge doesn't have to run through a trial to grant a summary judgement (on the conclusion that RedHat has legally clearly NOT violated SCO's IP - think the 'Napster' decision in reverse), and a temporary injunction can be granted to stop a media campaign if there's strong reason to believe that RedHat will ultimately win a permanent one. This was probably the appropriate time to launch this legal action. If it'd been done months ago, RedHat would have left itself vunerable to future claims SCO might make about its IP. Now that most of SCO's cards appear to be on the table and its roadmap clearer on what it plans to do with Linux distributors and users, RedHat is ready to try to stop SCO from doing what it's doing in a court of law. On a side note, SCOX stock is down to about $11, from $13 before the lawsuit was announced. Inside trading may have seen its peak price...we'll see.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 18:59 UTC (Mon) by TimCunningham (guest, #10316) [Link] Yes, finally!Time to go buy something from Red Hat...
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 19:07 UTC (Mon) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link] I'd buy RedHat stuff in preference to other distros because of this....but if you want to help this and future legal battles for Free Software, there are better ways to use your money. First off, tax-free donations are better than taxed purchases. RedHat are great contributors to the community, in my book they get a good second place to Debian, but when I have money to donate, I give it to FSF. Ciaran O'Riordan
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 19:47 UTC (Mon) by TimCunningham (guest, #10316) [Link] When the FSF steps up to the plate like Red Hat has, in this situation, then they'll get my money. (They have done so in the past, and in turn, have gotten my donation.)Point taken, though, on tax-free donations rather then buying something I don't really want.
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 19:14 UTC (Mon) by lyda (guest, #7429) [Link] excellent. thank you redhat.
eweek slams the scox/sunw scam Posted Aug 4, 2003 20:49 UTC (Mon) by walterbyrd (guest, #11620) [Link] >>McNealy compared the Linux community to Napster's MP3 swashbucklers and referred darkly to the copyright liability dangers of opting for the open-source "lifestyle."<<McNealy is parroting McBride here. Should be no surprise to anybody who can see through their little scam. >>There's no free lunch here. Sun can't placate SCO and also respect the intellectual property rights of the Linux kernel developers. If there's to be a Sun Linux, then it will carry the same phantom taint as Red Hat Linux or SuSE Linux or SCO's own UnitedLinux offering.<<
Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund Posted Aug 4, 2003 22:01 UTC (Mon) by djabsolut (guest, #12799) [Link] about time... good on Red Hat!
First "donation" made, more to come. Posted Aug 7, 2003 0:05 UTC (Thu) by newren (subscriber, #5160) [Link] I just went out and bought a copy of Red Hat 9 Professional. As soon as I can find out more about the fund that Red Hat is setting up, I'll contribute to it as well.
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