12 Jun 2003
The 100-day countdown to SCO's revocation of IBM's AIX licence ends tomorrow (Friday) at midnight.
If SCO revokes IBM's licence it will have little immediate effect on users - but could have longer term consequences should legal action go against IBM.
Ray Titcombe, 'mindful' of the unfolding events, but said they will look for protection from IBM if needed.
Analyst firm Gartner is advising AIX users to ask IBM to indemnify them against any potential legal action.
Titcombe says this had been discussed within the UK and European user groups, but not directly with IBM itself: 'If this rises to full litigation then user groups will look for indemnity which quarantines customers from [action] if they are using AIX. We would push vigorously for that.'
Legal action could take years to resolve, but Titcombe said should IBM lose, then customers may demand reimbursement if SCO charges them for using software code to which they did not have rights.
But whether the case will be settled or come to court remains uncertain. George Weiss, vice president and research director at Gartner, commented: 'IBM has deep pockets and can fight this all the way, or it could opt for a settlement. Friday 13 June will be a major turning point in seeing how both companies will move forward.'
SCO could opt to take legal action to prevent IBM from any further AIX sales, he said. 'AIX users are in a state of limbo. Even if IBM manages to get an injunction to block any potential SCO action, until it is settled there will be uncertainty hanging over future procurement of AIX.'
Darl McBride, SCO president and chief executive, said: 'We are still looking to resolve the issue with IBM but, if that fails, we have a number of options at our disposal.'
'If we reach the night of 13 June and no resolution has been found we will finalise our decision at that time.'
SCO did not comment on what it would expect AIX users to do if an agreement failed to be reached by Friday. IBM was contacted but did not want to comment on the case.
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