SCO's Unix license push hits Australia
SCO's Unix license push hits Australia
The SCO Group has started to market its Intellectual Property License to companies and organisations in Australia and New Zealand that use Linux open source software, which SCO claims infringes on the intellectual property (IP) rights of its proprietary Unix source code.
While the company has stressed it will not be threatening Linux users with lawsuits in the early stages of offering the licenses, it has warned that legal action is an option SCO is prepared to pursue to resolve copyright infringement issues as a last resort.The company began the worldwide roll out of the license in the UK, France and other European countries last week, and plans to make the license available to many more countries and regions by February 1. The softly, softly approach employed by SCO to users on this side of the world at this stage may not last long if the words of the company's Senior Vice President, Chris Sontag are anything to go by, as he said the company was ready to take legal action against a number of companies across the world who SCO claimed had infringed its IP rights. The company announced the pricing for the license, which it says permits the use of its intellectual property, in binary form only, as contained in Linux distributions. Companies are being asked to stump up AUD$999.00 per server processor and AUD$285.00 per desktop processor. The company is also offering the license to embedded devicemanufacturers that use Linux to run their devices. The company said that by purchasing the license, "customers are properly compensating SCO for the Unix source code, derivative Unix code and other Unix-related intellectual property and copyrights owned by SCO as it is currently found in Linux." In addition to extending the license to customers worldwide, the company also announced that the license will shortly be made available through select SCO resellers. "While we have identified several problem areas at issue within Linux, we also want to be fair to customers and allow them to continue using Linux and our intellectual property unencumbered," said Chris Sontag, senior vice president and general manager of SCOsource, the intellectual property licensing and protection division of The SCO Group. "We believe the SCO IP License helps customers satisfy the legal requirements to continue using SCO's Unix intellectual property in Linux in a forthright way while properly compensating the company for use of its property." Kieran O'Shaughnessy, SCO's Regional General Manager, Australia and New Zealand, said he will begin briefing the company's local distributors this week regarding the SCO IP License's introduction."The SCO IP License helps organisations in Australia and New Zealand to protect and leverage the investments they have made in Linux while providing the means for them to continue day-to-day business without interruption," he said.
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