] IBM sought dismissal of SCO's original suit, alleging
] that the Utah company made false allegations, competed
] unfairly and infringed on IBM patents. The countersuit
] seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Did SCO really think that IBM would just bend over??

I.B.M. Countersues SCO Group in Linux Battle

] The days when controversial websites can find a safe
] haven on a platform in the English Channel are numbered,
] according to one of the founders of co-location hosting
] company HavenCo.

Don't know if anyone remembers the Wired piece about Sealand a few years ago...

Internet Magazine - News/Advice/Reviews/ISPs/Hosting

] SCO's scheme is already unraveling. Now, after suing IBM
] when it refused to pay up or buy it out, hitting up
] Microsoft for a so called "license" for $10 million (that
] it probably didn't need) and mugging Sun for about $8
] million in "protection" (likely a wash versus the cost of
] a lawsuit), SCO has apparently run out of big Unix
] vendors. HP and SGI aren't saying but they must have told
] SCO to take a hike. As have the largest Japanese Unix and
] Linux vendors, Fujitsu and NEC. So SCO has threatened big
] Linux users with potential lawsuits in a desperate ploy
] to replace flatlining Unix revenues. But most IT pundits
] and the users aren't buying SCO's FUD act. And the reason
] for this is vocal grass roots Open Source opposition from
] the Linux developer community and thousands of individual
] users. It is not what SCO expected when it launched its
] license extortion scam.

Legal commentators weigh SCO's chances

] Members of the Linux community have labelled SCO Group
] plans to hit them with Unix licensing fees as extortion.

Bingo...

LinuxWorld | Linux resellers dismiss SCO licensing claims

] Disney and Movielink will make such films as "Monsters
] Inc.," "Chicago," "Gangs of New York," "The Recruit,"
] "25th Hour" and "The Jungle Book 2" available for
] download at prices ranging from $2.95 to $4.99. Users
] will need a broadband connection and a PC with
] Microsoft's (MSFT: news, chart, profile) Windows 98, ME,
] 2000 or XP operating systems, as well as the latest
] versions of either the Real Networks (RNWK: news, chart,
] profile) RealOne player or the Windows Media player.

Finally, someone with a clue! I don't like the propriatery formats but this is a start.

Disney allows movie downloads

] SCO's legal threats have prompted Gartner Group to
] recommend that companies delay deployment of critical
] Linux applications, determine "whether Unix or Windows
] will provide functions equivalent to those of Linux
] deployments", and take a "go-slow" approach to Linux in
] high-value or mission-critical production systems.

Who is this Gartner group, anyway??

The Register : More Gartner flak on SCO/Linux

] LOS ANGELES (AP) -- As the recording industry prepares
] hundreds of copyright lawsuits against online music
] swappers, the makers of file-sharing software are
] fortifying their programs to try to mask users'
] identities.

Just like Tom said. What we could ultimately end up with is systems that are completely peer-to-peer -- even for data transfer. All the nodes cache and there's some magic distributed directory services that maps file names to IDs and hashes. The result is that any one node only knows the IP addresses of its peers and unwinding the web becomes very difficult.

The bad news here is that it might well force the industry's hand to seek legislation banning peer-to-peer systems like this in the first place. Like we've said, the only place you can get any good degree of copy-protection is a totalitarian state.

As I see it now, the Right program is to bleed enough money out of the "IP Industry" (MPAA/RIAA) until real reform of the entire copyright system becomes feasible. Fair use is too soft. Arguing against copy-protection ultimately requires arguing against copyright.

"Copyright" or "Intellectual Property" is a totally spurious meme. What is more appropriate is "copytax" ... you're entitled to receive a (fixed) royalty whenever someone copies something you created. But you have no right to *control* copies or derivative works.

Such a system would allow the movie industry to remain viable though perhaps not as outrageously profitable as it has been.

The music industry is a somewhat different story. In the past, the music industry provided 3 things: production, distribution and marketing. Production is widely available and inexpensive. Similarly, getting CDs pressed is very cheap now and distribution via the net even cheaper. Good music sells itself. You only need marketing to sell bad music, right?

InformationWeek : File-Sharing : Makers Of File-Sharing Software Bolster Efforts To Mask Users' Identities : July 23, 2003

]
] Novell said Wednesday that NetWare 6.5 will include
] features for business continuity, open source, Web
] application services and "virtual office" capabilities to
] reduce network costs and complexity while giving users
] around-the-clock access.

I guess I knew that they hadn't folded but I didn't realize that they were still doing active development. Up until NT4 or so, Netware was king ... who uses it now?

And it still seems to be their same, old, expensive licensing scheme...

Internet Week : NetWare : Novell Preps NetWare For Linux Future : July 24, 2003

] The recording industry's plan to collect the names of
] music traders on college campuses hit a snag this week
] when two schools filed motions to quash the subpoenas in
] court.
]
] The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston
] College filed the motions Monday in U.S. District Court
] in Boston.

Sort of a technicality, but still...

Wired News: Schools Rebuke Music Biz Demands

] "You can get crackerjack Java programmers in India right
] out of college for $5,000 a year versus $60,000 here,"
] said Stephanie Moore, vice president for outsourcing at
] Forrester Research. "The technology is such, why be in
] New York City when you can be 9,000 miles away with far
] less expense?"

Ick ... someone else blogged a similar story a few weeks ago...

I.B.M. Explores Shift of White-Collar Jobs Overseas