SCO readies invoices for Linux

摘要

In its ongoing battle to protect its intellectual property, The SCO Group is stepping up its focus on corporate Linux users. The software maker now plans to send invoices to companies in an effort to levy fees for the use of Linux, which SCO says illegally contains its copyrighted Unix code. The plan escalates a program the company launched in August in which it urged customers using Linux based on Kernel 2.4 or higher to buy the SCO Intellectual Property License for Linux. The license, which is being offered for $700 per CPU until Oct. 15 (when the price will double), is aimed at getting customers "clean" and "square" with Linux "without having to go into the courtroom," says SCO CEO Darl McBride. The invoices, which will be sent sometime this month or next,"help formalize the process of buying a license," says Blake Stowell, a spokesman for SCO. It wasn't clear how SCO would determine the invoice charges.