SCOsource
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Intellectual property licensing |
| Products | Unix intellectual property licenses for Linux users |
| Parent | The SCO Group |
SCOsource was a division within The SCO Group responsible for handling its (now legally invalidated) Unix intellectual property. The term SCOsource denotes SCO's licensing initiative that enabled corporate Linux users to acquire licenses for proprietary Unix technologies which SCO asserted were incorporated into the Linux operating system. Each license was priced at $699 (USD) per CPU.
On July 21, 2003, SCO revealed its intention to offer binary-only licenses for Linux usage, with the goal of shielding licensees from potential legal disputes. This claim was contested by Linux proponents, who maintained that the GPL conditions might negate SCO’s authority to distribute Linux or associated code.
EV1Servers.net
On March 1, 2004, SCO publicized a licensing arrangement with EV1Servers.net, granting rights to utilize certain SCO "intellectual property." Blake Stowell from SCO estimated the agreement to be worth over "seven figures," although EV1Servers CEO Robert Marsh indicated a lesser amount. The precise financial terms were not disclosed publicly.
Computer Associates
In the course of discovery during the SCO v. IBM litigation, SCO lawyer Mark J. Heise revealed in a letter dated February 4, 2004, that Computer Associates (CA) had acquired a Linux intellectual property license from SCO.
Subsequently, on March 6, 2004, Network Computing reported that CA had entered into a SCOsource license agreement in August as part of a $40 million settlement involving CA, the Canopy Group, and Center 7. Sam Greenblatt, CA’s senior vice president and chief architect of its Linux technology division, described the license as a component of a larger settlement unrelated to any alleged intimidation tactics by SCO.
Nevertheless, CA later refuted claims of purchasing Linux licenses from SCO. Mark Barrenechea, senior vice president at CA, clarified that the $40 million settlement addressed breach-of-contract claims involving Canopy Group and Center 7. As part of this resolution, CA obtained UnixWare licenses necessary for supporting its UnixWare customers. SCO had incorporated Linux indemnification provisions into these UnixWare licenses, which it characterized as Linux licensing agreements.
SCOsource revenue
In October 2004, SCO Group CEO Darl McBride admitted that following initial agreements with Microsoft and Sun Microsystems which yielded $8.3 million in Q2 fiscal 2003, revenue from SCOsource declined to $7.3 million in Q3 and rose slightly to $10.3 million in Q4. Subsequently, income plummeted to $20,000 in Q1 2004, then fell further to $11,000 in Q2 and increased modestly to $678,000 in Q3.
By June 2007, SCO disclosed that quarterly earnings from SCOsource during 2004-2005 averaged only between $20,000 and $35,000. Financial disclosures indicated that total revenue generated by SCOsource from 2003 through 2007 amounted to $27.5 million while expenses reached $55.2 million.
See also
External links
- Groklaw – A community website monitoring SCO's legal actions and assertions