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Okay, I read this article and what of the comments I could stomach with the awful commenting system on there and I guess it's just that I've tried to flush this

Okay, I read this article and what of the comments I could stomach with the awful commenting system on there and I guess it's just that I've tried to flush this entire thing from my mind after spending years of concern about it. I understand that the judge decided to allow a reopening of certain aspects of the case v. IBM because he decided it was improperly closed. But from what I understood, the decision v. Novell essentially stripped SCO of any claims of copyright to Unix. Now I know the IBM lawsuit revolved around some slightly different issues from the Novell one, but if SCO has no copyright claims, how is it even paying counsel to sue someone? Is this just a leftover pile of money that's literally doing nothing but funding a series of doomed lawsuits? I understand from a strictly legal standpoint they are allowed to go on with certain claims but from a practical standpoint, I just don't get it. If there is a leftover pile of money, wouldn't it be smarter to actually, you know, invest this in creating an actual business rather than have it be a lawyer welfare fund?

btilly 13y ago
The company is bankrupt. Their only remaining asset of note is this lawsuit. As I understand it, the judge is letting this lawsuit go forward in the hope of extracting enough money to pay off the creditors more fully than they otherwise could. So yeah, it is a pile of leftover money that is pursuing the lawsuit to the bitter end prior to handing back what little remains to the various creditors.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  Realistically, aren't they only going to rack up more debt that they will have to pay off, in the form of lawyer fees?
  - btilly 13y ago
    I think that they can't rack up debt because nobody in their right minds will lend them money. They will just pay less to existing creditors.
narcissus 13y ago
Admittedly I'm sure there is some expense to running these lawsuits, but Boise Schiller (?) took on the suit with a cap on the cost to SCO: that is to say, right now, they're required to do all of this on their own dime.
josephlord 13y ago
It was never closed at all SCO managed to get it frozen while they were in bankruptcy.
caf 13y ago
There is no leftover pile of money. SCO's only "asset" is their interest in this lawsuit, and the fact that their lawyers are on the hook to ligitate it for them all the way to the Supreme Court (in the highly unlikely event that it goes that far), for no more cost to SCO.
- homosaur 13y ago
  I see, so basically counsel was already paid and now they're stuck with this case until its final thrashing death. I have a hard time processing that mentally but it makes a lot more sense than my money pile hypothesis.

btilly 13y ago

The company is bankrupt. Their only remaining asset of note is this lawsuit. As I understand it, the judge is letting this lawsuit go forward in the hope of extracting enough money to pay off the creditors more fully than they otherwise could. So yeah, it is a pile of leftover money that is pursuing the lawsuit to the bitter end prior to handing back what little remains to the various creditors.

jlgreco 13y ago
Realistically, aren't they only going to rack up more debt that they will have to pay off, in the form of lawyer fees?
- btilly 13y ago
  I think that they can't rack up debt because nobody in their right minds will lend them money. They will just pay less to existing creditors.

narcissus 13y ago

Admittedly I'm sure there is some expense to running these lawsuits, but Boise Schiller (?) took on the suit with a cap on the cost to SCO: that is to say, right now, they're required to do all of this on their own dime.

josephlord 13y ago

It was never closed at all SCO managed to get it frozen while they were in bankruptcy.

caf 13y ago

There is no leftover pile of money. SCO's only "asset" is their interest in this lawsuit, and the fact that their lawyers are on the hook to ligitate it for them all the way to the Supreme Court (in the highly unlikely event that it goes that far), for no more cost to SCO.

homosaur 13y ago
I see, so basically counsel was already paid and now they're stuck with this case until its final thrashing death. I have a hard time processing that mentally but it makes a lot more sense than my money pile hypothesis.