FW: [LOSC] SCO Files Chapter 11

[Doc.Brown at rolls-royce.com]

FYI

   _____  

From: Reynaud, Jean Yves [mailto:jeanyves.reynaud at eds.com] 
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 3:28 AM
To: Brown, David (Test Department)
Subject: [LOSC] SCO Files Chapter 11

 

Sure you've seen it. But in case. 

The SCO Group's tale of woe may be nearing its grim conclusion. The company
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US on Friday, one month
after losing the farm on its Linux litigation strategy.

The company's already terminal share price took another 43% dive on the
news. Its shares were changing hands at $0.37 when the market closed Friday
afternoon.

At the end of April, SCO was given six months to bring its share price back
up above $1, the cut-off under which it has languished since March 13, or
get kicked off the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The market now values SCO at just $7.9m, a little over half of its cash
balance at the end of its April quarter. 
Ironically, one of SCO's biggest creditors may end up being Novell, the
Linux company SCO unsuccessfully sued over intellectual property relating to
the operating system.

A US judge ruled last month that Novell is entitled to a slice of the $25.9m
license fees Microsoft and Sun paid SCO for use of intellectual property SCO
claimed to own.

Judge Dale Kimball decided that Novell, instead, is the rightful owner of
the Unix System V copyrights that SCO had asserted it owned and licensed
under its SCOsource program. 

SCO has appealed this decision, saying the Sun and Microsoft deals related
to different technology. Kimball last week denied its request to fast-track
this appeal.

Payment of fees to Novell, amount to be determined at trial, would be
difficult. SCO's April 30 balance sheet shows just $18.9m in assets, just
$13.2m of which was in cash or equivalents.

Kimball's pre-trial ruling last month essentially dashed SCO's hopes of
winning against Novell, and has undermined its case against IBM --
terminally, according to IBM.

Despite SCO's problems, the company insisted Friday that its customers can
count on its continued support while it undergoes Chapter 11 restructuring.

"We want to assure our customers and partners that they can continue to rely
on SCO products, support and services for their business critical
operations," said SCO CEO Darl McBride. 

See also some interesting articles on Groklaw
<http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070914152904577>
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070914152904577 

Jean-Yves Reynaud | EDS ASFO | Lead Tech France & Iberia | OSS Gov.
Committee | Chair Global OSS Forum | EDSource Leader | Office : +33 (0)562
882 471 | Cell : +33 (0)607 662 581 |  <mailto:jeanyves.reynaud at eds.com>
jeanyves.reynaud at eds.com
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