Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund

Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund

Posted Aug 4, 2003 18:34 UTC (Mon) by skybunny (guest, #4478)
Parent article: Red Hat files complaint against SCO, launches legal fund

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.

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