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26 Jan 2004
The SCO Group, which last week opened up its 'Intellectual Property License for Linux' for worldwide use, is hoping to convince sceptical resellers to implement the scheme without receiving commission.
It has claimed the threat of legal action for alleged Unix copyright violation will bring new customers to resellers and open up more sales opportunities.
"It is in the best interests of [SCO] resellers to assure customers that the software they run their businesses on is clear from Intelligent Property infringement," Blake Stowell, an SCO representative, told CRN.
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"[SCO is)] providing resellers with the opportunity of attracting new customers who want to overcome the IP issues in Linux with the help of a local reseller."
He said the licences would initially only be available through SCO's top-tier resellers.
But Peter Dawes-Huish, sales director at Linux consultancy and former SCO-Caldera Linux partner LinuxIT, ridiculed the licensing move.
"SCO will perform all sorts of stunts to bloat the value of its shares to make it an attractive acquisition target," he said.
However, he added: "Everyone believes it is right and proper to await the outcome of the court case in the US. In the meantime they expect support and assistance [from LinuxIT]."
Stowell said resellers would be educated "with respect to SCO-identified copyright violations as protected by the governing laws".
He said: "Our resellers are strong in numbers and believe in the rights and privileges of copyrighted material."
However, Greg Carlow, managing director of SCO reseller Repton Computers, said he had heard nothing from SCO.
"I have spoken to some senior financial companies and they have all said they don't care. It's a big non-issue to users," he said.
SCO last week threatened imminent legal action against major companies not signing up to the licence - including at least one in the UK.
In response, Hewlett-Packard, Novell and Red Hat have all created indemnity schemes to support users if legal action occurs. The Open Source Development Lab has created a $10m legal fighting fund.
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