Channel Register

SCO tries to grok Pamela Jones (again)

Come out, come out, wherever you are

By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in IT Channel, 5th April 2007 00:06 GMT

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SCO Group has asked a US court to reel in the reclusive legal blogger Pamela Jones of Groklaw fame in its arcane Linux intellectual property prosecutions of Novell and IBM.

In a filing that draws heavily on press articles - including one from your very own El Reg, SCO said Jones's testimony is relevant to its case.

The attempted deposition will be seen by many as SCO's latest gambit to unmask Jones, who, it has claimed, to be in reality a group of IBM employees or an individual paid by IBM to portray SCO in an unfavorable light.

Quoting press articles, SCO's action claims IBM "funneled" between $40,000 and $50,000 into Groklaw, which tracks the minutiae of SCO's cases against Novell and IBM. Also cited as proof of bias is the fact Groklaw is hosted for free on IBM servers at ibiblio.org.

According to SCO, Jones has important information and has avoided its subpoenas by going on holiday.

In 2005, SCO CEO Darl McBride zeroed in on Jones for de-railing his SCOsource Linux licensing business. McBride claimed Groklaw put a "big damper" on SCO's claims and created a lot of misinformation.

SCO subsequently set about trying to prove that Jones and Groklaw are IBM fronts. ®

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