SCO launches online licence payment site

By Stuart Finlayson

The SCO Group has introduced a website for Linux users that want to purchase a licence that SCO says covers Linux users for the use of its proprietary Unix source code, parts of which SCO claim has been illegally incorporated into the source code of the open source operating system.

The site was quietly introduced with no fanfare whatsoever from the software company, which was perhaps wishing to avoid a similar Denial of Service (DoS) attack that befell its main site earlier this month as a result of the SCO-targeted MyDoom virus, which continues to cause it problems despite the volume of data primed at the site having tailed off considerably.

SCO said it launched the site as a means of making it easier for Linux users who had not been contacted directly by SCO to obtain a licence.

The company, which sparked controversy last year when it launched a US$3 billion legal action against IBM for what it alleged was illegally using source code for the SCO-controlled Unix O/S into Linux. The legal battle has since expanded, with SCO also facing other Linux exponents such as Novell and Red Hat across the courtroom.

SCO has refused to disclose how many of the licences it has sold thus far, but the figure is estimated to be minute, as businesses are opting to sit tight and wait for the ongoing legal action with IBM to be resolved. Major Linux sellers such as HP and Novell, have offered indemnification against SCO legal writs for its customers.

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