IBM Subpoenas Microsoft, HP, Sun and BayStar in SCO Lawsuit

IBM's defense strategy in its $5 billion Linux lawsuit with SCO has taken a bold turn as it subpoenas major tech companies, including Microsoft, HP, Sun, and BayStar. The move is meant to uncover evidence of potential Microsoft and SCO dealings, including Microsoft's business strategy regarding Linux. This development comes as a response to SCO's allegations that IBM interfered with its business with major end users, including HP, Intel, and CA. IBM aims to reveal the truth behind SCO's claims and uncover the extent of Microsoft's involvement in SCO's financial woes.

Key Takeaways:

• IBM has subpoenaed Microsoft, HP, Sun, and BayStar, seeking documents related to their dealings with SCO and its financial struggles.
• The subpoenas target SCO's interactions with BayStar, which invested in SCO on a referral from a Microsoft employee and ultimately pulled out its money and sold its SCO stock short.
• IBM is looking for evidence of Microsoft's "business strategy regarding Linux," which SCO claims has been pivotal to its financial downfall.
• SCO's CEO, Darl McBride, denies IBM's accusations, stating that the information requested is just "run-of-the-mill deal stuff" without any smoking guns.
• SCO has subpoenaed Intel and The Open Group, alleging that they conspired with IBM to rip off SCO's dynamic linker and ELF file format.
• IBM is opposing SCO's attempts to bring Intel and The Open Group into the lawsuit, citing a potential breach of the deposition deadline.

Statistics:

• $5 billion: the amount SCO is suing IBM for in its Linux lawsuit.
• June 2002: the date from which IBM wants Microsoft to detail its communications with SCO.
• May 2003: the month in which Darl McBride allegedly told Steve Ballmer about SCO's rights to Unix.
• March 9: the date of a hearing to decide whether IBM's request to invoke Intel and The Open Group can be included in the SCO lawsuit.
• 1981: the year IBM wants Microsoft to search for documents regarding Unix, starting with Xenix.
• March 14-16: the dates scheduled for the depositions of Microsoft, HP, and BayStar, respectively.

Sources:

• Groklaw: "IBM Subpoenas Microsoft, HP, Sun and BayStar" by Pamela Jones.
• FileRecovery: "SCO sues IBM again over Linux" by John Dvorak.