March 30th, 2016

SCO Again Returns From Dead, Plans Appeal

FOSS Force has learned that we shouldn’t write obituaries until we actually see a death certificate. SCO intends to file an appeal over the dismissal of its case against IBM.

On Feburary 29, we told you that SCO was “undeniably and reliably dead” after the company signed off on Judge David Nuffer’s dismissal of what remained of its case against IBM. Guess what? We were wrong. The once upon a time Linux and Unix company, which developed and distributed the Caldera GNU/Linux distribution, evidently has not yet been pulled from life support. On Tuesday, the company filed notification that it intends to appeal Judge Nuffer’s ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Ding-dong! The witch is alive.

The bases of SCO’s appeal is not yet known. The papers filed only give notice that the plaintiff, that would be SCO, intends to appeal the decision. What is known is that the bankrupt company with no assets, other than its claim against IBM, is somehow managing to keep lawyers paid, which indicates that somebody’s lurking in the shadows hoping to eventually win the SCO lottery.

We can also assume that SCO’s lawyers aren’t working cheaply. According to the court document filed Tuesday, the company continues to be represented by the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner. David Boies is the same lawyer who prevailed over Redmond in the Netscape/Microsoft monopoly case and was almost responsible for having Microsoft split into two companies.

To hazard a guess, IBM’s response will likely be to revive its countersuits against SCO, and might even add a couple of new ones into the mix. It wouldn’t be a surprise if IBM pursued these counter claims aggressively, in an effort to help whomever is behind keeping SCO alive incur considerable legal expenses.

In the meantime, grab the popcorn and the M&Ms. This is turning out to be the longest death scene ever.