SCO threat real in SA

Johannesburg, 07 Aug 2003

The dispute between the SCO Group and IBM, in which IBM is accused of using "unauthorised derivatives" of Unix code in Linux, has prompted at least one bank to investigate these claims. Meanwhile, a lawyer believes any resulting lawsuit by SCO could filter down to SA companies.

SCO has recently received copyright registrations for Unix System V source code, which would form the basis of such a claim. Lisa Thornton of Lisa Thornton Inc, a local law firm for the ICT industry, says copyright registration is a jurisdictional prerequisite to an infringement action. However, she points out that IBM denies SCO`s claims of violation, and continues to maintain several defences.

"In SA, there are two types of infringement - direct and indirect," she adds. "The suits alluded to in overseas reports on the hypothetical liability of VARs and end-users would be classified as indirect infringement suits. SA entities could be sued," she says. "SA is a signatory to the Berne Convention, which means a US company with a US copyright can protect that copyright in SA."

Confidence under pressure

Obsidian, a Linux distributor, has encountered some wariness in one customer, but has had no difficulty in marketing and deployment of Linux-based solutions, says Nols de Wet, marketing director for Obsidian, a Linux distributor.

De Wet admits the effect of SCO`s claims is widespread, but says it is not serious. "SCO is making a lot of noise, and it`s pretty much still hearsay, everything that is going on," he says. "When SCO alleged the infringement, companies asked which code they were using that is in supposed violation, but SCO is not telling."

Claims quantified

Meanwhile, SCO has reportedly said it wants US$32 for each embedded system using Linux. This comes after a letter it sent to about 1 500 large companies it believes could be running Linux servers, saying it wants US$699 for rights to its Unix code for each single-CPU Linux server operated.

Embedded Linux devices could be anything from set-top boxes to the Sharp Zaurus, which also uses the Linux kernel, reports EETimes. A diverse group of embedded systems filling out this list range from consumer and handheld systems to networking devices such as routers and firewalls, medical equipment and some military electronic systems. Sales of embedded Linux tools and services have been pegged at US$62.6 million in 2002, a market growing at compound rate of 20.1% through 2007.