Officials at the SCO Group put a $31 million cap on
legal fees, as they continue their controversial litigation against several
high-profile companies over parts of the Linux kernel.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SCO
paid its teams of lawyers $12.6 million to cover outstanding legal fees and
expenses and agreed to pay a $2 million quarterly stipend through December
2005. The Lindon, Utah, company will still need to pony up any money
required for consultants, expert testimony or other types of expenses, and
have agreed to set aside a $5 million escrow account to cover those costs.
The Unix-based software development company is currently embroiled in a $5 billion
lawsuit with IBM , in which it claims Big Blue took licensed
Unix System V code from its AIX operating system and used it to bolster the
Linux kernel.
SCO is also suing Novell , Red Hat
, Auto Zone
and Daimler-Chrysler
for other alleged Linux-based infractions.
Also included in the SEC filing is a contingency fee to be assessed if SCO collects revenues from its licensing program, sells the company or wins any one of the court
cases it’s currently involved in: 33 percent up to the first $350
million; 25 percent up to $700 million; and 20 percent for anything more than
$700 million.
A roundup of some background stories on the dispute:
| internetnews.com’s Timeline of the SCO/IBM Case |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| March 6, 2003 |
SCO files initial breach of contract lawsuit against IBM for $1B |
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| May 14, 2003 | SCO suspends Linux sales, sends 1,350 letters to customers |
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| June 16, 2003 |
SCO terminates IBM’s System V licensing contract |
||
| July 21, 2003 |
SCO gets System V, UnixWare copyrights |
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| August 13, 2003 |
SCO terminates IBM subsidiary Sequent’s System V contract |
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| September 25, 2003 | IBM files counterclaim to SCO suit |
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| December 5, 2003 |
Judge gives SCO 30 days to show infringing code |
||
| January 12, 2004 |
SCO hands infringing code to IBM |
||
| February 6, 2004 |
SCO seeks to add two copyright claims to IBM suit, raise stakes to $5B |
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| February 26, 2004 |
IBM says it won’t contest infringement additions to suit |
||
| February 27, 2004 |
Court adds copyright claims to SCO’s IBM suit |
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| March 29, 2004 |
SCO seeks to split breach of contract, infringement claims into separate trials |
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| March 31, 2004 |
IBM files second counterclaim to SCO suit |
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| July 15, 2004 |
SCO files a Renewed Motion to Compel while it continues lawsuit activities against Novell, Red Hat and AutoZone. |
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| August 18, 2004 |
IBM calls for summary judgment on SCO’s contract claims |
||
