Open Source Weblog

According to the latest 10-K:

“We can not guarantee whether our claims against IBM or Novell will be heard by a jury. The lawsuits with IBM and Novell will continue to be costly. In the event we are not successful with the IBM or Novell motions, or the continuing litigation requires more cash than expected, our business and operations would be materially harmed.”

The company had previously noted how much it was looking forward to having its claims heard in front of a jury, and while the above statement is a matter-of-fact statement of potential risk, compare it to the company’s recent denial that it was on the brink of bankruptcy:

“McBride also dismissed recent speculation from Novell that SCO is about to go bankrupt as ‘on the edge of ridiculous’, insisting that ’the company is comfortable with our cash position and our ability to see the business plan through to its conclusion'," ComputerWire reported on the company’s Q4 conference call.

The phrase “see the business plan through to its conclusion” is an odd one. Unless it comes from a private company looking towards a potential exit strategy you will rarely hear a CEO talking about concluding a business plan.

To be fair, McBride might have been referring to the litigation as “the business plan” although the question related to the wider issue of SCO’s viability.

Either way, McBride was not exactly bristling with the stubborn confidence we’ve come to expect from him:

“Asked by an investor about the negative press surrounding the company’s legal claims against IBM Corp and Novell Inc and its financial position, McBride admitted, ‘some of it’s warranted, let’s face it.’

‘If you just sit down and look at the scoreboard over the last few years, and if you’re just doing a report on the numbers and how we’ve done, it’s not a pretty picture,’ he said, sounding almost apologetic about his previously bullish outlook on the company’s prospects. ‘Early on in this case I got drawn in to a war of words and at the end of the day the words are going to happen in the courtroom,’ he added.”

As the summary judgment requests begin to mount up against SCO, it has now got to the point where those words could be heard by a judge, rather than a jury. According to SCO’s 10-K:

“IBM has filed 6 motions for summary judgment that, if granted in whole or in substantial part, could resolve our claims in IBM’s favor or substantially reduce our claims.”

There is still a long way to go in this case, but with SCO predicting its own demise so vividly, it is easy to assume that the case is all over bar the shouting.