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Re: SCO-Novell Lawsuit Finally Going to Trial From Ars Technica
March 28, 2010 - said by Ryan Paul :
Jury deliberating UNIX ownership in ongoing SCO trial
Groklaw has published a series of first-hand accounts from spectators who were present on Friday when the final arguments were heard.
Laywer Sterling Brennan, representing Novell, contends that SCO's claim of owning the SVRX copyrights is invalid because it is based on a term sheet rather than the final agreement. He also questioned the credibility of SCO's witnesses, contending that the few who seem to remember what actually transpired have a financial stake in the outcome of the trial. Further, he says that the threats of litigation that SCO sent to Linux customers were a blatant violation of the terms of the asset purchase agreement.
Stuart Singer, representing SCO, claims that the transfer of the SVRX copyrights was excluded by accident in the original transaction, but that this was rectified in an amendment that was added later. He contends that the amendment is valid and that it was authorized by Novell. This matter is disputed, but SCO's witnesses say that the original intent of the agreement was to transfer the copyrights.
The judge has instructed the jury to consider the amendment when evaluating SCO's claim of ownership. He also explained that SCO has the burden of proof, which means that they should only find in SCO's favor if they believe that SCO's evidence is clear and convincing.
The jury will not deliberate on Monday due to a scheduling conflict for one of the jurors, but may return a verdict as early as Tuesday; any decision must be unanimous. If they do not issue a verdict in SCO's favor, it's likely that this will be the end of the road for the dying UNIX vendor. SCO's bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing, and the end result could very well be liquidation if a verdict in favor of Novell pulls the rug out from under SCO's legal campaign against Linux.
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