The challenge of buying a license from SCO
| From: | "M. Drew Streib" <dtype@dtype.org> | |
| To: | fsl-discuss@alt.org, linux-elitists@zgp.org | |
| Subject: | [fsl-discuss] SCO sales isn't yet authorized to sell Linux licenses | |
| Date: | Thu, 4 Sep 2003 23:13:56 +0000 |
"My ongoing battle to try to give SCO Money" by Drew ======== Thursday, Sept 4, 2003 Two weeks ago, I wised up. I was sitting at my laptop, developing a product for my business on Linux, and thought to myself "If SCO really does have IP in Linux, then I'd better get me some licenses." I called SCO. The salesperson assured me that though they were backordered, I would hear from a sales rep within two weeks. This was sort of frustrating, since this meant that for two weeks my business was probably using copyrighted software without a license, but owhell. Two weeks passed without a phone call. I called them again today, and a salesperson, beginning with "I don't know quite how to explain this", let me know that there wasn't a product manager for Linux licenses, and that there wasn't currently a way for salespeople to sell these licenses. They were frustrated, too. Since my business model involves distributing application servers, I expressed concern over the transferability of the license, and asked if the license itself was available. It is not. More assurances followed that this will be productized soon, and I'll receive a phone call from my sales rep. Apparently the sales force for SCO is pretty much in the dark about the whole thing (and none to happy about it). When I offer money to a sales rep, and he can't manage to give me any product for it, we have a problem. As we all know, a sales rep would sell his boss's children if it a customer was willing to offer money for them. (And it counted towards his quartly sales quotas.) ======= Moral of the story? I don't quite know. Despite all the arm waving, SCO is still unable to let me throw money at them. They don't even have a prospective license for me to view. I'm continuously pointed to the three sentences on their web site, which is all that even their salespeople know about the product. How is it that they already have a fortune 500 customer, if they can't even sell the thing to me using advertised prices? Didn't they have a $699 offer for licenses that expired a couple weeks ago, and the price went up to $1399 or so? According to my own research, not ONE person must have bought at $699, because it is impossible according to their own salespeople to even purchase a license right now. Odd. -drew -- M. Drew Streib <dtype@dtype.org> Independent Rambler, Software/Standards/Freedom/Law -- http://dtype.org/
Posted Sep 5, 2003 14:47 UTC (Fri)
by willy (subscriber, #9762)
[Link] (2 responses)
I also tried calling SCO to see if I could buy a licence from them.
My primary motivation was to keep them on the phone as long as possible,
driving up their 1-800 bill. Eventually, they promised to get a sales
rep to call me back "in the next two weeks" and so far the phone has not
rung. Perhaps I'll call again. Look here
for their phone number if you want to call too.
Posted Sep 16, 2003 22:29 UTC (Tue)
by Zakaelri (guest, #15087)
[Link]
Posted Sep 18, 2003 18:05 UTC (Thu)
by Darkheart (guest, #15204)
[Link]
But keep calling them *every day* ask to buy an IP license and complaining that you feel "unprotected" without your license. A little ironic revenge? Maybe. Perhaps (Someday?) they will come to their senses. Nahhh.... Corporate mentality. One of the oxymorons of our society.
Posted Sep 5, 2003 15:23 UTC (Fri)
by sphealey (guest, #1028)
[Link] (2 responses)
I realize this article was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but if the events described actually occured as written, I would suggest that you type up a complete description including your best recollection of times, dates, and statements made, have it notorized, and send it to IBM's chief legal counsel. Never know when such a statement might come in handy ;-) sPh
Posted Sep 6, 2003 7:48 UTC (Sat)
by piskozub (guest, #14877)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Sep 16, 2003 22:06 UTC (Tue)
by Zakaelri (guest, #15087)
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Posted Sep 5, 2003 15:31 UTC (Fri)
by pj (subscriber, #4506)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Sep 5, 2003 15:49 UTC (Fri)
by dbhost (guest, #3461)
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Not sarcastically man, I wish I would have thought of that. It is so stinking obvious I should have seen that! Way to go!
Posted Sep 5, 2003 16:20 UTC (Fri)
by hughett (guest, #10925)
[Link] (3 responses)
Posted Sep 5, 2003 16:21 UTC (Fri)
by allesfresser (guest, #216)
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Posted Sep 5, 2003 16:22 UTC (Fri)
by smoogen (subscriber, #97)
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Posted Sep 5, 2003 23:40 UTC (Fri)
by darksky (guest, #3883)
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Posted Sep 5, 2003 17:08 UTC (Fri)
by Ross (guest, #4065)
[Link] (3 responses)
How did those two customers get such special treatment? Maybe they don't want people to buy the licenses because they are afraid of
Posted Sep 5, 2003 17:36 UTC (Fri)
by StevenCole (guest, #3068)
[Link] (2 responses)
Just look for people wearing this on their shirt:
I bought a SCO Linux License,
Posted Sep 6, 2003 6:02 UTC (Sat)
by ErichTheWebGuy (guest, #14875)
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Posted Sep 16, 2003 23:00 UTC (Tue)
by Zakaelri (guest, #15087)
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Posted Sep 5, 2003 18:00 UTC (Fri)
by bubbacode (guest, #14855)
[Link] (2 responses)
In other words its very hard to throw money at SCO in general. Its like they don't give a (*&^& if the sell ANYTHING. BTW I have NO intention of calling SCO. Just not that brave. They are sending out invoices to those they know about and are running linux. I DON'T want to be on their radar screen.
Posted Sep 5, 2003 20:09 UTC (Fri)
by maxmurd (guest, #14858)
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Posted Sep 6, 2003 7:30 UTC (Sat)
by technoshaun (guest, #13487)
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I would file an immediate complaint with the FTC here: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01 And I would file a mail fraud complaint with the USPS here: https://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm Then I would get a lawyer and have him review all the material I have posted here on the case: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/no2sco/links Would file a class action lawsuit on illegal billing and sue their collective asses off. --Shaun
Posted Sep 5, 2003 21:26 UTC (Fri)
by s_cargo (guest, #10473)
[Link] (3 responses)
Posted Sep 6, 2003 6:05 UTC (Sat)
by ErichTheWebGuy (guest, #14875)
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Posted Sep 6, 2003 8:31 UTC (Sat)
by namaseit (guest, #13940)
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Posted Sep 6, 2003 8:33 UTC (Sat)
by namaseit (guest, #13940)
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Posted Sep 6, 2003 14:32 UTC (Sat)
by t00r (guest, #14885)
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Posted Sep 6, 2003 18:26 UTC (Sat)
by ErichTheWebGuy (guest, #14875)
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Posted Sep 6, 2003 16:39 UTC (Sat)
by neoprene (guest, #8520)
[Link] (1 responses)
Which part of the kernel can I omit and not pay SCOX a licecense they feel entitled to? Their claims are a nebulous propaganda and the sale of "Linux" license is smoke and mirrors for the likes of gullible e-journalists like Ms. DiDiot and stock jockeys. If they won't show which code they are claiming to be copied how can they offer a license? On a similar note, how can U.S. Copyrights be attached to unpublicized works, ie source code ?
Posted Sep 16, 2003 21:30 UTC (Tue)
by dvdeug (guest, #10998)
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If I write code then later find out it was somehow protected, how could I have possibly known? Don't worry; if I copyright a chunk of code and you indepenedently write the same code, you have an independent and seperate copyright on your code, even though it's the same. Copyright only protects copying, not independent reimplementation. Unsurprisingly, courts tend to be suspicious of most independent reimplementation, but if you can show you never saw the original or the similarities were compelled by technical reasons, it's legal.
Posted Sep 7, 2003 12:23 UTC (Sun)
by bincrap (guest, #14899)
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Posted Sep 7, 2003 14:24 UTC (Sun)
by gups (guest, #14053)
[Link] (3 responses)
Posted Sep 8, 2003 15:19 UTC (Mon)
by jzb (editor, #7867)
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Posted Sep 9, 2003 16:26 UTC (Tue)
by cpm (guest, #3554)
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Posted Feb 8, 2004 11:02 UTC (Sun)
by MarsupialKiwi (guest, #19299)
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Posted Sep 16, 2003 21:40 UTC (Tue)
by torsten (guest, #4137)
[Link] (2 responses)
It's 5:31pm EST and SCOX is sitting at $19.20/share. This is up from a low of $0.78/share in the last year.
If I were an insider, I would be howling with joy and dumping every share I had. As an outsider, I wish I had bought at $0.78/share and held until today. Can you imagine, 25.6 times return on investment. 10kUSD becomes 252,210kUSD.
I don't believe that anything Daryl McBride says has anything to with anything but encouraging exactly what has happened. I also wonder why investors believe that SCO strongarm tactics indicate a healthy company worth so much per share? And why are they buying against all recommendations? And why do they not noticing the insider stock sales? And why do they not look at the 52-week low?
Who the hell is buying SCO right now?
Posted Sep 18, 2003 18:24 UTC (Thu)
by Darkheart (guest, #15204)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Sep 25, 2003 15:28 UTC (Thu)
by torsten (guest, #4137)
[Link]
Microsoft?
You may be correct. On groklaw, there was mention that the company buying all this SCO stock (went from 0% ownership in Dec 2002 to 5% by Sep 2003) is headed by Melinda Gates, wife of William "Bill" Gates.
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Heh... I sugges that everyone start calling them while they arn't allowing
you to buy the lisence... and bug your own line (i.e. record it). Now,
this is how it should start out, to prevent needless lawsuits...
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Caller: I would like to inform you that I am recording this
conversation for quality assurance purposes.
Sales Rep: Either A) Hangs up because it's not ok... or B) says
ok, becasue they personally see nothing wrong with it.
Caller: I would like to inquire about the linux lisence that SCO is
selling to linux users. I am interested in purchasing one, but would like
to read the contents of the lisence before agreeing to it's terms. Where
can I find a textual copy of it?
Sales Rep: I don't know. Let me check with my manager
long pause. Hold music. Caller Starts to Snore.
I think you can see where the call will end up... So I will skip the rest
of it.
After the call is over (assuming that things went the way
they have
above), make a few duplicates of the tape, annotate and create a
transcript of the call, then send tapes, transcript, and a short letter
detailing your experiences to your local Better Business Bureau, as well
as IBM, RedHat, and (if it is appropriate) the SEC. Then watch the BBB
"use that to fu** them in someplace... fairly uncomfortable."
Trying to "run up" the 1-800 phone bill. They probably buy blocks of time for a fixed rate. (E.G. 12 months 120kUSD) Depending on the traffic flow. Business model that we wee folks never get to see.The challenge of buying a license from SCO
As they told me in "First Line Supervisor" class: document, document, document. Document, document, document
Good idea, but the addressee should not be IBM (which has a contract dispute with SCO) but RedHat. RedHat's action is exactly about the FUD that SCO creates to destroy Linux business model.
Document, document, document
Or, even better than that, help IBM and RedHat out as much as possible:
forward both of them a copy :)
Re: Document, document, document
Isn't it some kind of fraud to claim to offer something for sale but not actually do so?The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Ding ding ding! We have a winner!!!!!The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Look at it from their viewpoint. If SCO gets a call out of the blue,The challenge of buying a license from SCO
how can they tell that it's not someone working for the state attorney
general?
Maybe the attorney general uses Linux. :-)
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
In which case they should return the phone call etc. Attorney Generals arent known for their patience.
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Why does it matter if they get a call out of the blue? If someone calls and wants a license, you would think that they would jump at selling it to them.
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
A question comes to mind. Who sold the two Linux binary licenses and whoInteresting
were the customers? If not the sales department to companies asking about
the program, then maybe it was McBride himself selling to other Canopy
Group companies :)
liability? Maybe they just didn't expect anyone to buy. This thing looks
more like a sham every day.
A question comes to mind. Who sold the two Linux binary licenses and who
were the customers?
Interesting
and all I got was this lousy teeshirt.
I'm a SCOX-SUCKER!
Now you just KNOW i hafta go get that put on a shirt and wear it to my next LUG meeting :)
Interesting
I would rather say something more like the following: Interesting
<front>I bought a SCO Linux License,
and all I got was this lousy teeshirt.</front>
<back>Support Open Source
http://www.opensource.org</back>
I made mine, but messed it up a bit... ::points sharpie at another
T-shirt::
This fits in with the general we don't sell anything problem I found with SCO. Try to buy or get the price of a SCO product. Say UnixWare or something. By going to their site you get the real royal run arround. I suspect you would get the same vagueness and "please call someone else" response if you called. The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Gosh!! I do wish to get on their radar instead!!The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Then, try to catch me sending invoices to Italy, :DDDDD
I would love to get an invoice from the:The challenge of buying a license from SCO
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
for two weeks my business was probably using copyrighted software without a license
Even in satire, I think we should avoid contributing to a common misconception that GNU/Linux is somehow NOT copyrighted nor licensed. It is very much copyrighted and is covered by a license.
Yeah, agreed. I have run into a few newbies that are under the impression that they can do whatever they want to with it since there "is no license" and "I *own* it, right? I mean I got the code and everything..."
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Whoa, i smell a troll.
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Oh nm, i misunderstood your saying. I was looking at it from the perception that The challenge of buying a license from SCO
you were agreeing with SCO. :-)
Lets make it interesting - If someone can get a SCO licence for linux - Advertise it on EBAY! Highest bidder! I'm sure the price you paid for it will be less than the auction outcome.
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
I will never buy a license, but if I get an invoice I will give copies to anyone who wants one.
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
What actual lines of code do SCOX license? The whole kernel? Which kernel?The challenge of buying a license from SCO
If I can't copy Source Code why does it get Copyright protection? I can understand that music and film and other visible creative works get copyrights, but why "encrypted" stuff?
How can the Author enjoy Copyright Protection when his works are hidden? If I write code then later find out it was somehow protected, how could I have possibly known? Helloooo??
Should i just keep on writing code and wait for a law suit? How f**ng stupid is that?
Is it time to replace the corpes hired by special interests in the US Senate and Congress with the "WE THE PEOPLE.... " representatives ??The challenge of buying a license from SCO
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
I would have no concerns about being sent a bill from SCO. In fact I would love for them to send me a bill. As soon as they demand payment through the USPS they have opened as serious can of worms in the form of federal postal fraud. When they send you the bill you have the right to DEMAND a copy of the paperwork that makes you billable. If they can't provide it... you aint gotz no bill. <LOL>
So it sounds to me as though SCO is just making noise and can't walk the walk to go with all the talk.
So SCO... if you're out there reading this.... bill me! Please bill me! I dare you. Also maybe someone on your legal team has heard the word "racketeering". RICO statutes aren't sexy but they gotz teeth!
SCO! Step up... I'm waiting. Come get me.
It was real suspect when SCO announced they actually sold a couple of licenses, but refused to name the licesees. It's pretty clear they just made it up for PR reasons. So, I think if you're stupid enough to fall for SCO's scam and purchase a license, I bet they will hold a big press conference and let the world know that you're their third valued customer.The challenge of buying a license from SCO
If you want to be famous, this is a quick way to go.
I doubt they've made it up. They probably do have a few people who have paid them something for a license, probably just to help "the cause" and make SCO look good. I'd like to know who their customers are, though -- I would bet a decent steak dinner that at least one of the customers is in some way connected to Canopy.
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
I don't agree. They probably sold a couple of licenses. A coupleThe challenge of buying a license from SCO
as in two. MicroSoft and Sun.
Sun are fighting the good fight dude - Don't mention them in the same noun phrase as Microsoft like that
Don't diss Sun, man.
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
Microsoft?
The challenge of buying a license from SCO
The challenge of buying a license from SCO