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1995 SCO, HP, Novell press release: SCO bought the UnixWare business

By Pamela Jones et al.

I found something that is one more piece of evidence that what SCO bought from Novell was the UnixWare business -- not UNIX, not the copyrights, not everything lock, stock and barrel, as SCO unsuccessfully argued in the recent SCO v. Novell trial. I'm pretty sure that it's the press release Novell's MOFO attorney Michael A. Jacobs showed to Alok Mohan, mentioned in this article about day 4 of the trial:

Then Jacobs hands him another press release about working with HP and Novell to create "a high volume UNIX OS with advanced network and enterprise services".

We didn't have that exhibit before on Groklaw that I know of, so I am putting it here now for historians, for the completeness of our records on the trial.

It's a 1995 joint press release by HP, Santa Cruz and Novell dated September 20, 1995, one day after the APA was signed by Santa Cruz and Novell. That makes it Santa Cruz telling the world *at the time* what it thought it had purchased, and what it says it bought is ... the UnixWare business. At the trial, Alok Mohan, a SCO witness, was asked if the press release accurately reflected the deal, and he said yes. What could he say? He's quoted in the release. He was then Santa Cruz's President and CEO.

That confirms to me the correctness of Judge Ted Stewart's ruling. SCO is appealing that ruling, asking the appeals court for another trial as alternative relief, but I can't imagine how they can in light of this evidence and Mohan's confirmation of its accuracy.

Full post as published by Groklaw on November 13, 2010 (boomark / email).