IBM seeks copyright absolution in SCO case
IBM seeks copyright absolution in SCO case
IBM has filed an amended counterclaim in its ongoing court battle with the SCO Group in which it asks the judge to absolve it from any claims of copyright infringement against SCO.
SCO instigated the court battle initially by alleging that IBM violated the terms of its contract with SCO by illegally moving sections of SCO's proprietary source code into Linux. IBM responded with a countersuit claiming that SCO was in violation of a number of IBM copyrights.
The case has drawn in other Linux advocates such as Red Hat and Novell, who are both involved in separate court proceedings with SCO.
The adjustment to IBM's counterclaim seeks a declaratory judgment ruling that Big Blue does not infringe, induce the infringement of or contribute to the infringement of any SCO copyright through its Linux activities, including its use, reproduction and improvement of Linux, and that some or all of SCO's purported copyrights in Unix are invalid and unenforceable.
SCO has been pursuing enterprise Linux users for compensation for the use of its Unix code within Linux by means of a licence fee. So far, few companies have purchased the licences.
In recent weeks, SCO has taken its pursuit further by suing large scale Linux users. The automotive industry is the first sector to bear the brunt of SCO's litigation spree, with auto parts retailer AutoZone, and vehicle manufacturer DaimlerChrysler on the receiving end of lawsuits.
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