Novell still gunning for SCO

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 5 Oct 2007 at 12:10

Novell wants the courts to lift SCO's litigation protection so it can resume its lawsuit and get the money it's owed.

Following August's ruling that SCO did not own the Unix copyrights over which it had sued Novell, a trial had been scheduled to determine the amount SCO should pay Novell for the Unix licensing revenues it had illegally collected from Sun Microsystems and Microsoft.

However, the start of the trial was postponed indefinitely when SCO placed itself under the protection of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Now, Novell is asking the courts to allow the lawsuit to go ahead in Utah, the site of its earlier victory, arguing that after four years it makes no sense to start all over again in a new state, especially when the court is already "fully versed" in the issues and the case itself is only expected to last around five days.

Novell is also arguing that, without the Unix licence fees, it is looking increasingly unlikely that SCO can successfully reorganise and emerge from Chapter 11.

To add insult to injury, Novell also wants the courts to order SCO to hand over all future royalties directly, without the funds going through the estate. Novell is wary that SCO may "improperly use Novell's property to fund SCO's bankruptcy" turning it into a "forced lender of new high-risk loans to the estate."