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The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 08:07 PM EST

Here is Maureen's Motion to Intervene and Motion to Unseal Court's File [PDF], with Memorandum in Support, or at least it's the filing O'Gara provided to a Groklaw member who asked for it. It's not up on Pacer yet. The reason I'm being cautious is it's rather an odd filing, in that it combines the motion to intervene with the motion asking for relief. Normally you ask to intervene and if permitted, then you file for the relief you wish granted. It was just odd enough that I decided to ask marbux to take a look at it. He filed plenty of motions before he retired as an attorney, and I wanted to ask if it seemed like an odd filing to him or if it was just me.

The first thing he noticed is that it seems to him to be deficient, because you are supposed to file a complaint with your motion, and they have failed to do so, as he explains:

"Rule 24(c), http://www.wvnb.uscourts.gov/frcp.htm#rule24 --

'A person desiring to intervene shall serve a motion to intervene upon the parties as provided in Rule 5. The motion shall state the grounds therefor and shall be accompanied by a pleading setting forth the claim or defense for which intervention is sought.'

"Remember that the term "pleading" is widely misused by legal professionals. Under the Rules, it has a very narrow definition. See Rule 7(a) and (b), defining "pleading" and setting forth separate definition for "motions and other papers." http://www.wvnb.uscourts.gov/frcp.htm#rule7

This is a motion to intervene, accompanied by another motion for relief. It's possible when we see it show up on Pacer the missing complaint will be there.

The point of view these motions reflect can be summed up in this sentence:

"The public's interest in the evolution of open source software and the perhaps contervailing public interest in the protection of intellectual property far outweigh the interests of the parties in keeping information which is not truly confidential under the seal of this Court."

How telling that they imagine that open source software is threatening intellectual property. Linux, the kernel, is released under the GPL, which license is founded on and depends upon copyright law to protect it. You'd think a firm that O'Gara says specializes in IP law would know that. Linux doesn't threaten intellectual property. It just threatens some proprietary software companies' bottom line. That really isn't the same thing at all. Microsoft and SCO might want us to imagine we are all equally threatened by Linux, but actually, *we* are benefited by it, because it saves us money and spares us a lot of malware problems and just works very reliably. Not to mention enjoyably.

As you will see, her article about the filing got a few facts wrong. She wrote that she was asking that the transcripts of hearings be unsealed, but I see nothing asking specifically for that in the motions, just for an order "unsealing each of the sealed documents filed or exchanged with the Court in this matter unless the parties demonstrate that the release of such documents would cause them specific competitive injury; and (2) modifying the Protective Order in this action to require that a party seeking to file a document with the Court under seal first make a showing that public access to that document or portion thereof would case that party specific competitive injury." In short, she is asking for what the parties file. In footnote 1, they also ask for correspondence with the Court, but no mention of transcripts of hearings. Another thing, it is G2 Computer Intelligence, Inc. bringing the motion, the publisher of LinuxGram and CSN.

marbux noticed some other things:

"A motion to intervene normally focuses on the issues of intervention, not on the merits of the relief requested. Maureen's motion does make one point on the right of intervention, citing a single authority, and the motion does ask for the relief of intervention, so it's arguably o.k. on that grounds, but all the rest about entitlement to relief is actually irrelevant to a motion to intervene. It isn't ripe for consideration until the court grants the right to intervene."

I asked marbux what a motion to intervene is usually like in his experience:

"What does a normal motion to intervene entail? I've both filed and opposed many such motions. A movant to intervene has to establish its right to intervene in one of two legal capacities: (i) intervenor as of right, Rule 24(a); or (ii) permissive intervention Rule 24(b). http://www.wvnb.uscourts.gov/frcp.htm#rule24 (Those Rule sections governing intervention are closely related and largely interdependent with Rule 19, which governs joinder of persons needed for just adjudication. http://www.wvnb.uscourts.gov/frcp.htm#rule19.) Whether a party is granted "of right" or permissive intervention matters greatly. Only intervenors as of right have a right of appeal independent of the original parties' right of appeal.

"For that reason, every serious motion to intervene I've seen focuses and structures its argument in two steps. The first argument is the reasons the party is entitled to intervene as of right. The second argument is the reasons why a the party is entitled, even if not found to be an intervenor as of right, to permissive intervention. Maureen's motion is different. The motion itself requests only Rule 24(b) permissive intervention. PDF, first line on page 2. The right to intervene gets one sentence in the memo, see text accompanying footnote 2, and a footnote with 3 citations. Some of the same cases are cited later in the memo for other propositions, but the single sentence and footnote are the entire discussion of the right of intervention. Everything else is improper, out of order, irrelevant unless and until the court grants intervention.

"Now add to that the problem that the motion is not accompanied by a proposed formal pleading as required by Rule 24, and you get this sense that something strange is going on.. . It's a head scratcher. It's a very strange filing, way outside my experience and I've litigated in every major region of the U.S. Maybe they do things differently in Utah."

It's also odd in that it references the Protective Order which was agreed to by the parties, not imposed by the court, which allows either party to designate matters as confidential, and then it criticizes the parties for not providing a "showing by the party making the designation that the material is actually confidential. The parties can thereby protect from public discosure any materials they simply do not want the public to see, whether or not their release would actually cause that company any competitive injury."

No, they can't. The protective order begins by saying that the parties are concerned "that discovery may involve the disclosure of confidential, trade secret, proprietary, technical, scientific, business, or financial information of a party or of a non-party" and says they can only designate things as confidential if the "party's counsel 'in good faith contends' that such material 'is not publicly known that would be valuable to third parties. . . and that the DISCLOSING PARTY would not normally reveal, and has not revealed, to third parties without an agreement to maintain it in confidence."

They have thus insulted the judge for agreeing to this protective order. They quote cases mainly from other circuits, which usually means you can't find enough for your circuit to support your request. They cite some cases that are criminal cases, and in footnote 3, they acknowledge that "[t]he Tenth Circuit has not taken a position as to whether the First Amendment could create a public right of access to judicial records in civil cases. . . ." That means they are asking the judge to be the first to do declare such a right. That doesn't prevent them from strongly claiming that the Protective Order in this case "violates not only the common law right of public access to judicial records, but the public's First Amendment right to oversee their judicial system."

Well, that is yet to be determined, obviously, and while they do acknowledge any such right is "not absolute", a more respectful tone might have been appropriate.

Here's my impression: this is intended to harrass and hopefully embarrass IBM, and maybe gain some PR value. They apparently hate IBM and Open Source, both SCO and O'Gara, judging by their words and deeds, and maybe SCO couldn't figure out a way to get the records unsealed on their own. Something that IBM wants kept confidential SCO seems to want out there very much. G2 has now asked for it to be out there by asking that everything be laid bare. Therefore, O'Gara asks that IBM, and SCO, included for camouflage, I presume, be compelled to prove that all documents they wish sealed really deserve to be kept confidential, document by document, according to a process used in the case of Grundberg v. Upjohn Co. She also petitions that the parties be compelled to release redacted documents if certain matters really are to be kept confidential, so that the rest of the document can be revealed.

Say, you think that proof process might slow down this case? Why, yes. Yes, I do.

I hate to break it to them, but both parties have already filed redacted documents, just not the particular one or ones SCO wants revealed, I guess. But the truth is, other documents have referred to and quoted from sealed documents, so we are really not in the dark at all as to what is what in this case.

So, the bottom line is, G2 -- coincidentally I'm sure -- has now asked for what SCO told us they wanted IBM to reveal, as opposed to what Ms. O'Gara personally would be presumed to want revealed. Go figure.

All of which is to say, I'm not so sure these motions will fly but even if they were granted, I don't think the end result would be much different than the status quo. Judge Wells certainly was not born yesterday, and she observed what happened at the last hearing, how confidential matters were "accidentally" leaked by one of SCO's attorneys, and now up pops the very reporter who reported some more details about that leaked info, despite apparently not being at the hearing in person, and the judge is likely to be able to add two plus two and get four. As G2's own motion says, "the court must balance the competing interests of the public and the parties to the litigation, considering whether the records are sought for 'improper purposes.'" So I'm guessing that even if she grants, or Judge Kimball grants, these motions, it doesn't mean the particular confidential material everyone on that side seems so eager to get publicized will ever be freed from its confidential status. Judges see all the tricks, you know. You might say it's their job. As you can discern from all this, just because you read something on Slashdot that Groklaw supposedly said, it doesn't make it so. I have real doubts about the success of this venture. Two attorneys express some skepticism here.

Steve Martin has already transcribed and HTML'd the filings for us. Thank you, Steve, once again for all you do. He mentions that there are a couple of typos -- they spell David Marriott's name as Advid on both Certificates of Service -- and we retained them that way.

**************************************

Michael P. O'Brien (USB #4894)
Andrew H. Stone (USB #4921)
JONES WALDO HOLBROOK & McDONOUGH PC
[address, phone]

Attorneys for G2 Computer Intelligence, Inc.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
STATE OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION


THE SCO GROUP, INC., a Delaware
corporation,

Plaintiff,

vs.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION, a New York corporation,

Defendant.


MOTION TO INTERVENE AND
MOTION TO UNSEAL COURT'S FILES


Civil No. 03CV0294

Judge Dale A. Kimball
Magistrate Judge Brooke C. Wells

G2 Computer Intelligence, Inc. ("G2") by and through its counsel hereby moves the Court for an order granting it leave to intervene in this matter for the limited purpose of seeking an order: (1) unsealing each of the sealed documents filed or exchanged with the Court in this matter unless the parties demonstrate that the release of such documents would cause them specific competitive injury; and (2) modifying the Protective Order in this action to require that a party seeking to file a document with the Court under seal first make a showing that public access to that document or portion thereof would cause that party specific competitive injury.

G2's Motion to Intervene is made pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(b). G2's request to vacate or modify the Protective Order and unseal Court records is made pursuant to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution's ("First Amendment"), the Federal Common Law, and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 5(d) and 26(c). This motion is based upon the supporting memorandum's points and authorities, all pleadings and papers on file in this matter, and upon any other matters that may be presented to the Court at or before the time of the hearing. G2 requests that it be permitted to intervene, and that the stipulated Protective Order entered into this action on September 16, 2003, and all amendments hereto, be vacated or modified to permit public disclosure of the Court's records which have been sealed in this matter and ensure that no other Court documents are withheld from the public or filed under seal in the absense of a showing sufficient to satisfy the applicable legal standards.

Dated this 30th day of November, 2004.

JONES WALDO HOLBROOK & McDONOUGH PC
By: ___[signature]___
Michael P. O'Brien
Andrew H. Stone
Attorneys for G2 Computer Intelligence, Inc.


CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on the 30th day of November, 2004, I caused a true and correct copy of the foregoing to be mailed, postage prepaid, to the following:

Brent O. Hatch
Mark F. James
Hatch, James & Dodge, P.C.
[address]

David Boies
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
[address]

Stephen N. Zack
Mark J. Heise
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
[address]

Todd Shaughnessy
Snell & Wilmer LLP
[address]

Advid Marriott
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
[address]

Donald J. Rosenberg
[address]

___[signature]___


Michael Patrick O'Brien (USB #4894)
Andrew H. Stone (USB #4921)
JONES, WALDO, HOLBROOK & McDONOUGH
[address, phone]

Attorneys for G2 Computer Intelligence, Inc.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION


THE SCO GROUP,

Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant,

vs.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION,

Defendant/Counterclaim-Plaintiff.


MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF
MOTION TO INTERVENE AND
MOTION TO UNSEAL COURT FILE


Civil No. 2:03CV-0294 DAK
Judge Dale A. Kimball

[ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED]

G2 Computer Intelligence, Inc. ("G2"), by and through its counsel, hereby files this Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Intervene and to Unseal in the above-captioned matter.

INTRODUCTION

G2 is the publisher of Client Server News and LinuxGram, both publications devoted to the IT industry. G2's publications are engaged regularly in the gathering and dissemination of news concerning IT, and have reported on this case.

On March 6, 2003, SCO Group and others filed this action in Utah state court against IBM asserting that IBM had improperly incorporated aspects of SCO's UNIX operating system in versions of Linux distributed by IBM. The case was removed to this Court on March 25, 2003. Because Linux is perhaps the best-known of open-source operating systems, the case has been and continues to be the subject of intense public interest.

On September 16, 2003, this Court entered a stipulated protective order (the "Order"), pursuant to which each party was permitted to unilaterally designate discovery material as "Confidential." The only requirement for this designation was that the party's counsel "in good faith contends" that such material "is not publicly known that would be valuable to third parties. ..and that the DISCLOSING PARTY would not normally reveal, and has not revealed, to third parties without an agreement to maintain it in confidence." Order ¶ 1.C and 3. Any party who files Confidential material or "any pleading, motion, deposition transcript, or other papers filed with the Clerk of the Court" is required to file such materials under seal. Order ¶ 6.

To date, at least 29 filings have been filed in this matter under seal.1. These pleadings (the "Sealed Documents") have been placed under seal, hidden from the public, without any showing by the party making the designation that the material is actually confidential. The parties can thereby protect from public disclosure any materials they simply do not want the public to see, whether or not their release would actually cause that company any competitive injury. This denial of the public's right to access to those pleadings violates not only the common law right of public access to judicial records, but the public's First Amendment right to oversee their judicial system.

G2 therefore moves to intervene in this action2 and further moves for a modification to the Protective Order which will ensure that information in this seminal case which is not legitimately confidential is no longer hidden from public view.

ARGUMENT

I. THE FIRST AMENDMENT GUARANTEES THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT OF
ACCESS TO NON-CONFIDENTIAL JUDICIAL DOCUMENTS

As the Tenth Circuit held in Crystal Grower's Corp. v. Dobbins, 616 F.2d 458, 461 (10th Cir. 1980), although the court has the discretion to control and seal documents in its possession, "[i]n exercising this discretion, we weigh the interests of the public, which are presumptively paramount, against those advanced by the parties." It is this Court's responsibility to make an independent determination of whether these documents may be released to the public and not leave this decision in the hands of the parties, who have a personal interest in keeping embarrassing information out of the public eye. The Sixth Circuit emphasized the duty on the part of the court to weigh the public's interest in disclosure against the desire of the parties to keep unflattering material secret in Proctor & Gamble Co. v. Banker's Trust Co., 78 F.3d 219 (6th Cir. 1996):

The District court cannot abdicate its responsibility to oversee the discovery process and to determine whether filings should be made available to the public. It certainly should not turn this function over to the parties...

Id. at 227.

It is well established that the First Amendment guarantees to the public and the press a right of access to judicial proceedings. Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 580 (1980). Although the Supreme Court has not directly addressed the issue of whether the First Amendment right of access applies to court records and documents, the Tenth Circuit has assumed that there could be a right of access under the First Amendment to such materials. United States v. McVeigh, 119 F.3d 806, 811-12 (10th Cir. 1997) cert. denied sub nom; Dallas Morning News v. United States, 522 U.S. 1142, 140 C.Ed. 2d 163, 118 S.Ct 1110 (1998); United States v. Gonzales, 150 F.3d 1246, 1255-56 (10th Cir. 1998).3 Both courts applied the criteria for public access set forth by the Supreme Court in Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 478 U.S. 1 (1986) ("Press-Enterprise II") to determine whether there was a First Amendment right of access to the documents sought:

(1) whether the document is one which has historically been open to inspection by the press and public; and

(2) whether public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question.

McVeigh, 119 F.3d at 812. This inquiry is referred to as the test of "experience and logic." Id. As the McVeigh court noted, "[i]f the qualified First Amendment right of access is found to apply to the documents under the 'experience and logic' test, the district court may then seal the documents only if 'closure is essential to preserve higher values and is necessary to serve that interest.'" Id. at 813 (emphasis added) (quoting Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 464 U.S. 501, 510 (1984)(Press-Enterprise I)). As the Supreme Court stated in Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 873 (1976), "[l]oss of First Amendment freedoms, even for minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury." Both criteria are satisfied here.

As the Gonzales court noted, "[u]nder the Press-Enterprise II analysis, the 'experience' test examines whether the 'place and process have historically been open to the press and general public." Gonzales, 150 F.3d at 1256. As the Tenth Circuit noted in McVeigh, the "experience" of the American judicial system is that documents filed with the court have historically and presumptively been available to the public. McVeigh, 119 F.3d at 811. This historical right has guaranteed the public access to judicial documents except where outweighed by a party's countervening interest, such as the interest of a business in keeping its trade secret information confidential. Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598 (1978).

"The 'complementary' test for 'logic'", according to the Gonzales court, "asks "whether public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question." Gonzales, 150 F.3d at 1256. The courts have uniformly held that the openness of the judicial system, especially where judicial proceedings involve matters of substantial public interest, is of critical importance to the proper functioning of that system. See Richmond, 448 U.S. at 571-72; McVeigh, 119 F.3d at 813. Here the parties, each filling an important role in IT, are engaged in a dispute with potentially dramatic potential ramifications for the development of widely available open source operating systems. The extent, if any, to which SCO has proprietary rights in Linux is of broad public interest. "Logic" demands, therefore, that the public be given access to non-confidential judicial documents in such an important case as this.

Here, the First Amendment clearly requires that the Sealed Documents be released to the extent that the parties cannot affirmatively demonstrate that those records are truly confidential and that their disclosure would cause specific competitive harm to a party. The public's interest in the evolution of open source software and the perhaps contervailing public interest in the protection of intellectual property far outweigh the interests of the parties in keeping information which is not truly confidential under the seal of this Court.

Thus, assuming, as the Tenth Circuit has already done, that the First Amendment applies to the public's right of access to judicial documents, this Court must unseal the pleadings filed in this action unless the parties show that sealing is "essential" to preserve their interest in confidentiality.

II. THE COMMON LAW ALSO GUARANTEES THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT OF
ACCESS TO NON-CONFIDENTIAL JUDICIAL DOCUMENTS

The non-confidential portions of the Sealed Documents must also be released under the common law. The Tenth Circuit has held that under the common law judicial documents, those papers filed with the court, are presumptively available to the public. McVeigh, 119 F.3d at 811. As the United States Supreme Court held in Nixon, "[i]t is clear that the courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents." 435 U.S. at 597. The courts have recognized many reasons for maintaining this common law right of access, including keeping a "watchful eye on the workings of public agencies," publishing "information concerning the operation of government," id, and "preserving the integrity of law enforcement and judicial processes." United States v. Hickey, 767 F.2d 705, 708 (10th Cir.) cert. denied sub nom; Hopkinson v. United States, 474 U.S. 1022 (1985).

Although this right is "not absolute," the district court may not simply deny the public access to judicial records out of hand. See Nixon, 435 U.S. at 598. Rather, the court must balance the competing interests of the public and the parties to the litigation, considering whether the records are sought for "improper purposes." Huntsman-Christensen Corp. v. Entrada Indus., Inc., 639 F. Supp. 733, 736 (D. Utah 1986). Where trade secret information is involved, it is the commercial interests implicated by the possible release of such information which justifies denying the public access to judicial records; "[s]imply showing that the information would harm the company's reputation is not sufficient to overcome the strong common law presumption in favor of public access to court proceedings and records." Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. Federal Trade Comm'n, 710 F.2d 1165, 1179 (6th Cir. 1983).

Here, the public's right of access to the non-confidential portions of the Sealed Documents clearly outweighs any rights the parties may have to keep that material secret. The public's common law right of access therefore demands that pleadings or portions of pleadings the parties cannot show to be truly confidential must be unsealed.

III. THE PARTIES HAVE THE BURDEN OF SHOWING THAT PLEADINGS
SHOULD BE UNDER SEAL.

The procedure for determining which pleadings, or portions of pleadings, remain under seal must implement the presumptive public right of access. Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure does this by placing the burden of showing that each particular document, or portion of a document, filed with the court should be put or remain under seal.

This Court, in Grundberg v. Upjohn Co., 137 F.R.D. 372 (D. Utah 1991), imposed just such a burden in a dispute involving issues very similar to those presented here. In that products liability case, where the plaintiff had challenged the "confidential" designation applied to certain documents by Upjohn, the court held that the burden of showing the "good cause" necessary to justify maintaining these documents within the protective order was on Upjohn. The court noted that the "party seeking the protective order must show good cause by demonstrating a particular need for protection. Broad allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples or articulated reasoning, do not satisfy the Rule 26(c) test." 136 F.R.D. at 389 (quoting Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 785 F.2d 1108, 1121 (3d Cir. 1986)). According to the court, "good cause must be based on a specific factual determination of potential harm, not on conclusory statements." Id. (citing Anderson v. Cryovac, 805 F.2d 1, 7 (1st Cir. 1986)).

Upjohn argued that certain materials should remain within the protective order because they were "confidential." The court, in determining whether the materials involved were protectible under that standard, defined "confidential information" as "information which, if disclosed, 'will cause a "clearly defined, serious injury" to the defendant's business.'" 136 F.R.D. at 394. It held that the Upjohn materials at issue did not meet this standard, and thus fell outside of the protective order, because "Upjohn did not demonstrate that it will suffer a particularized harm if such documents were released from the protective order...."

Upjohn has not established good cause or otherwise met its burden of proof to establish that the documents sought to be released from the confidentiality designation in the protective order contain trade secrets, that such contain confidential information or that release of such documents from the protective order would cause Upjohn cognizable or commercial harm.

Id. at 395.

The documents at issue here were placed under seal based on the unilateral decision of the parties as to what information was "confidential." Neither party was required to prove that it would actually be harmed by the release of such information or even that the information sought to be protected was in fact confidential.

Additionally, even if a portion of a pleading is legitimately confidential, this would not justify the sealing of the entire document. As the Seventh Circuit held in Methodist Hospitals v. Sullivan, 91 F.3d 1026, 1032 (7th Cir. 1996):

To say that particular information is confidential is not to say that the entire document containing that information is confidential .... The district court should not have denied defendants' motion to unseal their memorandum. The court instead should have ordered defendants to redact the confidential information and then should have placed the remainder of the document in the public record.

There is no reason that, even if some of the Sealed Documents contain information that is legitimately confidential, that such information cannot be redacted and the rest released to the public.4

G2 suggests that this Court require each party to demonstrate, as to each judicial document placed under seal, that the designated confidential material contained in such document is actually "confidential" under the Grundberg test, i.e., that the release of such documents would cause that party "particularized" "cognizable or commercial harm."

CONCLUSION

G2 thus requests that this Court require the parties to prove, with respect to each Sealed Document, that the Confidential Information contained in that document is truly confidential. G2 also requests that the Court require the parties to present to this Court, for unsealing, all pleadings filed under seal with only actually confidential information redacted. Finally, G2 requests that the Court follow this same procedure with respect to any and all correspondence between the parties and the Court, if any, that is not part of the Clerk's file in this case.

DATED this 30th day of November, 2004.

JONES, WALDO, HOLBROOK & McDONOUGH

By ___[signature]____
Michael Patrick O'Brien
Andrew H. Stone
Attorneys for G2 Computer Intelligence, Inc.



1 To the extent any correspondence with the Court is not reflected in the Clerk's file, G2 seeks that correspondence, as well.

2 G2 has standing to intervene and seek access to the Sealed Documents on behalf of the public. See Pansy v. Stroudsberg, 23 F.3d 772, 777 (3d Cir. 1994)("We have routinely found, as have other courts, that third parties have standing to challenge protective orders and confidentiality orders in an effort to obtain access to information or judicial proceedings."). The standing of media entities to seek public access to judicial documents on behalf of the public was accepted by the Tenth Circuit in United States v. McVeigh, 119 F.3d 806, 809 n.4 (10th Cir. 1997) and United States v. Gonzales, 150 F.3d 1246 (10th Cir. 1998).

3 Both McVeigh and Gonzales were criminal cases. The Tenth Circuit has not taken a position has to whether the First Amendment could create a public right of access to judicial records in civil cases as well. However, the Courts of Appeal that have addressed the question have generally held that the First Amendment provides a right of access to civil proceedings. As the Seventh Circuit noted in In re Continental Illinois Securities Litigation, 732 F.2d 1302, 1308 (7th Cir. 1983), "[T]he policy reasons for granting public access to criminal proceedings apply to civil cases as well. These policies relate to the public's right to monitor the functioning of our courts, thereby insuring quality, honesty and respect for our legal system." See also, Westmoreland v. Columbia Broadcasting Sys., Inc., 752 F.2d 16, 23 (2d Cir. 1984), cert. denied, Cable News Network, Inc. v. U.S. District Court, 472 U.S. 1017 (1985); Publicker Indus., Inc. v. Cohen, 733 F.2d 1059, 1067-71 (3d Cir. 1984); Rushford v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc., 846 F.2d 249, 253 (4th Cir. 1988); Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. Federal Trade Comm'n, 710 F.2d 1165, 1179 (6th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1100 (1984).

4 In fact, this very procedure has been followed in pleadings filed in the U.S. v. Microsoft and Sun v. Microsoft cases and was followed by this Court in the Caldera v. Microsoft case, Case No. 2:096CV 0645B (D. Utah).


CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on the 30th day of November, 2004, I caused a true and correct copy of the foregoing to be mailed, postage prepaid, to the following:

Brent O. Hatch
Mark F. James
Hatch, James & Dodge, P.C.
[address]

David Boies
Boies, Schiller &Flexner LLP
[address]

Stephen N. Zack
Mark J. Heise
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
[address]

Todd Shaughnessy
Snell & Wilmer LLP
[address]

Advid Marriott
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
[address]

Donald J. Rosenberg
[address]

____[signature]____


  


The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text | 258 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
OT Here Please
Authored by: fudisbad on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 09:40 PM EST
For current events, new legal filings and CC10 rulings.

---
FUD is not the answer.
FUD is the question.
The truth is the answer.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Corrections here please
Authored by: fudisbad on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 09:41 PM EST
Insert filler text here.

---
FUD is not the answer.
FUD is the question.
The truth is the answer.

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: Steve Martin on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 09:42 PM EST

You know, this kinda popped out at me when I read through this Memorandum:

"On March 6, 2003, SCO Group and others filed this action in Utah state court against IBM ... "
"... and others ... "?? What others? I'm only aware of one plaintiff / counterclaim-defendant in this case, and that's The SCO Group. Also, I note that the Motion has an inaccurate case number in the caption, and that the clerk (or someone) mis-spelled David Marriott's name in both documents. This seems to be pretty sloppy legal work to me.

---
"When I say something, I put my name next to it." -- Isaac Jaffee, "Sports Night"

[ Reply to This | # ]

O'Gara's Right
Authored by: rsteinmetz70112 on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:00 PM EST
Regardless of the motives of O'Gara, the filings should be open to the greatest
extent possible. I only wish a more reputable news organization had taken up
this cause.

---
Rsteinmetz

"I could be wrong now, but I don't think so."

[ Reply to This | # ]

  • I'm curious - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 11:25 PM EST
    • I'm curious - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 12:30 AM EST
      • I'm curious - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 01:22 AM EST
      • I'm curious - Authored by: gtall on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 06:55 AM EST
      • I'm curious - Authored by: soronlin on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 07:32 AM EST
  • O'Gara's Something - Authored by: Griffin3 on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 10:24 AM EST
Money?
Authored by: Latesigner on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:04 PM EST
Since the legal fees are capped how does SCO intend to pay for this sideshow
along with everything else?
More to the point, is this supposed to obscure the fact that O'Gara's "no
show in court" trick would have gotten her fired by any reputable
publication?
Im not an accountant but I really want a look at everyone's books. I don't
think all the cash is up front.

[ Reply to This | # ]

  • Money? - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 11:48 PM EST
    • Money? - Authored by: Latesigner on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 12:20 AM EST
    • Money? - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 12:39 AM EST
      • Money? - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 12:52 AM EST
        • Money? - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 01:41 AM EST
        • Money? - Authored by: marbux on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 11:10 AM EST
  • Money? - Authored by: webster on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 08:00 AM EST
Win for the right reasons
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:05 PM EST
It isn't at all clear to me what IBM needs to keep secret. Groklaw is
favourably disposed to IBM, as IBM is firmly in the Free/Open software
camp at this time. Nonetheless, don't we want IBM to crush SCO fair and
square? How does keeping documents under seal help? Can somebody
speculate what these documents contain, at least?

[ Reply to This | # ]

Where is this going?
Authored by: AllParadox on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:06 PM EST
For me, this has all the wrong "feel".

First off, it seems that G2 (O'Gara) is asking for a Court Order, not money
damages or criminal conviction. If I understand these things correctly, that
Court Order would be issued by Judge Kimball sitting in equity. To get the
Order, it must be asked for in the proper form: a prayer for a writ of
mandamus.

Extraordinary writs are handled much differently than intervenors as parties.

How very strange.

We shall have to see how this develops.



---
All is paradox: I no longer practice law, so this is just another layman's
opinion. For a Real Legal Opinion, buy one from a licensed Attorney

[ Reply to This | # ]

what if this hasn't really been filed at all yet
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:08 PM EST
I just thought of something that may be kind of strange, but what if this hasn't
been filed yet and someone just wanted to run it by Groklaw to see if lots of
eyes looking at it would find mistakes. Then when they see those errors re-write
the actual document armed with a better understanding of what might be wrong
with what they otherwise might originally send?

[ Reply to This | # ]

What if MOG doesn't actually want it?
Authored by: whoever57 on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:26 PM EST
Tinfoil hats on, please.

What if this is all a sideshow -- MOG does not really want documents unsealed
because (in the case of the recent hearing transcript) it may prove her wrong.

Meanwhile, she can keep stirring the FUD with this. Maybe that's all this motion
is: more FUD?

[ Reply to This | # ]

Why do they cite McVeigh?
Authored by: Steve Martin on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:31 PM EST
Perhaps some of the lawyer-types here can enlighten me. I got curious, and
started looking up some of the stuff this filing cites. In particular, it cites
U.S. v. McVeigh in supporting their request. However, when I looked at the
ruling (and the appeal) in McVeigh, it seems that the request to unseal the
documents was denied, both at the trial level and by the appelate court. Didn't
O'Gara's lawyers hurt themselves by citing this? I'm so confused...


---
"When I say something, I put my name next to it." -- Isaac Jaffee, "Sports
Night"

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:35 PM EST
Would the court refuse to take the motion under consideration solely because no
"pleading" was filed (and hypotheticly won't be filed).. - In other
words, will it be that formalistic?

[ Reply to This | # ]

Beware of the Seemingly Obvious!
Authored by: Simon G Best on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:42 PM EST

It seems quite obvious that there's something that The SCO Group want to get unsealed - too obvious!

And, with the O'Gara thingy striking a few lawyers as strange, even deficient, it's as if this 'attempt' to get it unsealed is actually intended to fail.

Could it, just possibly, be an attempt to give everyone the impression that there's something that The SCO Group want revealed? Something which, despite their 'efforts', remains secret? Something which can then be FUDded about? Something which they could claim IBM is trying to keep secret?

'After all,' they might be thinking, 'it's difficult to counter FUD with the truth when the truth's still sealed.'

And as, by now, they must have spent time wondering what to do about the Groklaw problem, should we not expect something intended to be Groklaw-resistant? Something intended to work as Groklaw-proof FUD?

---
Open Source - open and honest? Not while the political denial continues.

[ Reply to This | # ]

why G2 is doing this
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:52 PM EST
I have an alternative explanation as to why OG is doing this. I don't she is
pro-SCO, anti-Linux. I say that because in some of her writing, plus her
questions at SCO quarterly earnings conferences, she has been pretty critical of
SCO.

What I have observered is that OG is actually a sensationalist. She likes to
say things that will stir up controversy and get her publicity. She has no
respect for the facts, which means she will say false things about Linux and IBM
when it suits her purpose.

If somebody feeds her something juicy, she will put it in her collumn, and
without checking it. Since it is SCO, not IBM, that likes to shovel dirt to her,
lately she has been writing things on that side, but it is not out of any
prejudice, just out of opportunism.

I think she filed the motion just to stir things up and get in the news. And she
has succeeded.

I wouldn't get too bothered about her. At this late point in time, anyone who
has been paying the least attention to the trial knows that SCO is doing pretty
poorly, and what OG has to say on the matter is not going to change anybody's
mind.

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - Speculation
Authored by: rsteinmetz70112 on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:57 PM EST
It seems the law firm retained by O'Gara is a reputable local firm. Presumably
for an out of town client on a relatively minor matter they would not risk their
standing with local courts.

I support the result O'Gara seeks, and the firm she selected seems reputable,
therefore I suggest we wait for the official filings before we leap to any
conclusions.

---
Rsteinmetz

"I could be wrong now, but I don't think so."

[ Reply to This | # ]

Who is footing the bill?
Authored by: LarryVance on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 10:57 PM EST
I have very serious questions about the tone of things that MO has posted as of
late. This seems to be beyond shock value. I truly believe that there is
another party behind all this. I do not believe that TSG is acting alone in
this.

On what do I base this? -- Just on my gut feel!

The comments to a couple of the MO articles are chock full of acusations that PJ
is ficticious and that IBM is paying for GrokLaw, etc. It must be the same old
people pulling the ropes in the background.

I suspect that there is a M$ connection here. MO couldn't be a monopolist
shill, could she?

I am ready for some of the declarations to be made by the court. I am
anticipating some positive news for FOSS.

---
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR INFLUENCE!
Larry Vance

[ Reply to This | # ]

Possible reason for this filing
Authored by: TomWiles on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 11:07 PM EST
PJ and Friends:

PJ and friends really achieved a news (literary) coop when they managed to get
and post The 1994 USL-Regents of UCal Settlement Agreement. Maureen and her
publications seem to consider GROKLAW a major competator in certain news areas.


My position is that Maureen and company are taking the GORKLAW coop very
personally, and that their current filing is an attempt to save face (see, we
can unseal sealed documents too).

The timing would support this position. The quality of their filing may also
support this position in that it seems to be done in a hurry. The idea that a
supporter of GROKLAW might get and publish the restricted information in the
IBM-SCO case may be unbearable to Maureen and company. They had to get here
before GROKLAW got another coop.

Actually we do not care, let them do the work if they can and we will read it
when they publish. More power to them.

Tom

[ Reply to This | # ]

OS vs. IP
Authored by: Observer on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 11:33 PM EST
I suppose it isn't all that surprising that the O'Gara Filing would couch this in terms of an Open Source vs. Intellectual Property fight, since those are the terms that SCO has been trying to push all along. It doesn't matter how OPEN the source is, or how well the GPL truly protects Intellectual Property, albeit in a very different way than what people are used to. In fact, if people are actually taking source from one person without their permission (which, of course, no one has managed to prove yet) and giving it away, then that is destroying their IP. In any event, Open Source is certainly destroying the value of their old way of creating IP.

What SCO and the shrinking body of commentators who are still fiercely defending them can't grok is the fact that the act of giving away your IP actually increases the true value of that IP, both to you and to others.

---
The Observer

[ Reply to This | # ]

And what exactly is your involvement in this matter, Ms. O'Gara?
Authored by: artp on Wednesday, December 01 2004 @ 11:49 PM EST
"Judge Wells certainly was not born yesterday, and she observed what
happened at the last hearing, how confidential matters were
"accidentally" leaked by one of SCO's attorneys, and now up pops the
very reporter who reported some more details about that leaked info, despite
apparently not being at the hearing in person, and the judge is likely to be
able to add two plus two and get four."

I, too, wonder what would happen if the judge would ask exactly how and when Ms.
O'G got the confidential information, and what her ties to this case are, with
specificity. :-)

I know that her press status gives her certain immunities, but that doesn't
protect SCO. And collusion with SCO may take away her press shield. Press is
protected, marketing and promotion isn't.

I can always envision that Maureen has gotten her whatsit in the wringer by
sticking her nose where it isn't wanted. Talk about walking into the lion's den!

[ Reply to This | # ]

Still talking past the court
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 12:05 AM EST

Well, I see this a just more of the same SCO tactic --
using court filings to issue press releases. Apparently,
this isn't an excessive bother to the courts.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Oh, my ...
Authored by: marbux on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 12:51 AM EST
On March 6, 2003, SCO Group and others filed this action in Utah state court against IBM asserting that IBM had improperly incorporated aspects of SCO's UNIX operating system in versions of Linux distributed by IBM.
Now I wonder where she got that idea. SCO's UNIX in Linux? Haven't SCO's lawyers been arguing that something like the above is a mischaracterization of SCO's position? I wonder if they'll address that when they respond to the G2 motion to intervene?

---
Retired lawyer

[ Reply to This | # ]

Ironic after source code secrecy.
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 12:52 AM EST
If O'Gara is working to benefit SCOG it is ironic that the company that has
concealed any offending sourcecode, or lied boldfaced about sourcecode, is in a
sweat to reveal case info. I really hope that, contrary to public perceptions,
she is simply looking to expose the truth.

I think a statement from the judge about the value of this case to the public
would be very interesting.

Unsealing the BSD case would also be very interesting (if there is much left
after the Groklaw scoop).

It reminds me a bit of Novell's response to SCOG's enterring new evidence out
of turn. I think there is a public interest to serve but I hope the judge treats
details fairly. I don't think the Judge will want to simply feed the SCOG share
pump and dump scheme. I don't think this will go very far.

I don't think this has to be any more complex than that the information would
embarrass IBM and make its competitors look good. At a minimum, I think SCOG is
disposable to protect or further The Canopy Group. Other people firmly believe
that Microsoft is connected with this -- it may be SCOG just giveing their
backer(s) value by doing what it can to harm IBM.



Thanks for the great work PJ!

[ Reply to This | # ]

Agreeed O'Gara is a tool of SCO, But.......
Authored by: Sunfish on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 01:27 AM EST
I think there is no doubt that O'Gara is working for SCO indirectly. However I
propose that the release of sealed documents would indicate the real and deeper
intent of SCO and O'Gara.

The acid test is this: "Will the release of sealed IBM documents help SCO's
case? My guess is no.

"Will the release of the sealed documents injure the Open SOurce Movement
and Linux?" My guess is yes.

And if it is "Yes" to this last question, then there you have the
final smoking gun pointing to M$ involvement - SCO and O'Gara doing something to
injure Open Source without making SCO's case any stronger.

My own guess is that IBM's sealed documents reveal a strategy to "Deal
with" the open source movement once our usefulness and "use by"
date is passed, thus driving a wedge between Open Source, Groklawians and IBM.
Either that, or a massive reserve of FUD.

To put it all another way the old test "cui bono?" (Who benefits?)
needs to be applied. My guess is its not SCO but M$. Anyway enough guessing for
one day.

[ Reply to This | # ]

New DOC's Get befor there gone
Authored by: bsm2003 on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 01:30 AM EST
http://pacer.utd.uscourts.gov/image s/

[ Reply to This | # ]

Timing question
Authored by: Darth23 on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 01:48 AM EST
Wouldn't it make more since to file a motion to unseal documents AFTER the case
is resolved?

What's so pressing that they'd beed the judge to put time aside to decide on
whether or not to unseal documents right now?

---
"high-end mathematicians, rocket scientist, modeling type
guy"

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 02:56 AM EST
My first thought is, I wonder how much delay will this add?
My next question is qui bono? Certainly OG could attract readers, but the big
winners would have to be MicroSoft and SCO or the SCO legal team. It sounds
like the perfect situation for OG. She has desperate confidential inside
sources. They don't want a CC10 or CC8 ruling. They probably gave her some
ideas about what sorts of actions could take place in court to add contraversy
to such rulings. OG could take these ideas to some affordable lawyer that is
familiar with the legal scrapes that journalist encounter to prepare a motion.


I'll bet OG is very practiced at protecting her sources. Even so she may be
just enough out of control that she will expose who is saying what to her.

I agree there is a compelling public interest to be serve by unsealing
documents. There is also a compelling public interest in thwarting attempts to
delay judgement.




[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - A part of the SCO delay strategy?
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 03:58 AM EST
Reading Maureeens filing and her article made me ponder about her motivations:

Hypothesis:

MO's motion is part of SCO's strategy to delay the court by filing motions.

Current situation:

1/ MO surely operates from an intellectual position that is close to SCO's and
MS's. Analyzing her vocabulary and thread of argumentation, a certain closeness
with SCO in the different lawsuits and MS versus open source is obvious.

2/ SCO seems to play for time in the lawsuits, trying to force their oponents to
settle with them out of court.

3/ SCO also seems to have run into a dead end filing obstructive and delaying
motions as the relevant judges seem to be determined to bring discovery to an
end.

4/ SCO has not provided any substance, hard facts, in any of the lawsuits yet.
It seems that they are not able nor willing to identify a clear claims and have
enough material at hand to support this and fight it through. As of now their
main interest seems to be to _have_ a lawsuit versus IBM and others "up and
running" only. In short it seems that what they do is something like
"Hey, we have a lawsuit and there has to be some money in this for
us!" versus "We have a rightful claim we can proove and desire
compensation for harm done to us".

5/ Any material that is sealed is yet known by the court and will be properly
addressed in the ruling or in an appeal. Both involved parties are able to
monitor the courts orders, fully informed, and the court will have to elaborate
on the reasons of the ruling when presenting the sentence.

6/ SCO has financing issues and needs a certain perception from the public and
possible investors to have the chance of creating income, find investments to
have money. There is a cap of costs with Boise, but there are still open
financing questions, every bit of money they get will add to their choice of
means before court.

Conclusion:

As of MO's motion there seems to be no direct gain for SCO relevant to the
outcome of the cases. Yet indirectly the motion supports SCO's strategy on
various levels. First of all it uses up the courts time, introducing yet another
motion to decide upon. SCO is more and more limited in doing this by their own
behaviour and the courts recent orders that limit this strategy.

On top of this i think it is also noticable how this motion also fits in with
SCO's general public relation concept, partially also with MS's. MO makes no
secret that she desires to blow in the same horn here.

Also bear in mind, that the Groklaw community recently appealed a court and by
that means made important documents available. MO's motion might partially just
be the reaction to that from the SCO side of things.

Summary:

In the end it seems to me that there is a mixture of motivations for that motion
and the article from MO:

a/ Show that their is an active community to support SCO
b/ Show that the people supporting SCO are doing this with the same effort and
employing similar means (appealing courts) as the Groklaw community does.
c/ Trying to build up propaganda in displying IBM as obstructive and a company
that needs to "hide" something.

And to introduce a new motivation:

d/ Delaying the IBM case by filing time consuming motions where SCO can't.


I personally find this all very disturbing. SCO has not yet shown any evidence,
especially not for the initial claim of stolen source code. It seems to be
enough to merely have assumptions to be able to enter a lawsuit with a major
company. To me it raises the question if there is not a serious flaw in the US
juridical system that allows complaints that stand on such weak grounds develop
into a major lawsuit. The harm done by this can be extensive. If you talk to
risk controlers in major international companies, they will tell you that the
court risk in the US is not calculabe, they see going to court in the US
generally as a va banque game, playing the lottery. The international trust in
this legal system is vanishing, cases like SCO vs IBM are adding up to this.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Can IBM support the O'Gara Motion? (Q to all lawyers)
Authored by: ccs on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 05:48 AM EST
What happens if IBM supports the O'Gara motion?
Are they allowed to? Or are they even asked?

Afaik, it was SCOGs idea.
What if SCO says NO.
Are they even asked? etc...

[ Reply to This | # ]

Most unusual
Authored by: Nick_UK on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 06:05 AM EST
How often does this happen? A third party observer poking their nose into
somebody else's court proceedings asking the Judge for something?

I never seen this before, even in Perry Mason!

Nick

[ Reply to This | # ]

Please drop the silly conspiracy theories
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 06:29 AM EST

Yes, we can all come to the oh-so-shocking conclusion that O'Gara is in bed with Darl (shudder), but we have no evidence at all to support that. It's just gossipy speculation.

What we do know is that O'Gara makes her living from sensationalism and self publicity. And that's all that we need to know to explain this action. Look at the attention that it's garnered her, for a fairly low outlay (i.e. apparently bad legal advice). We don't have to look for a SCO arm up her back working her mouth, but go ahead and knock yourself out if that's what tittilates you.

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 06:48 AM EST
The O'Gara filing has made me wonder; Why can't everyone send a motion to the
Delaware court; to finish the Redhat v SCO-X case.

We would really like to see the SCO-X execs be forced to prove they really had
evidence of misused UNIX code.
It seems SCO-X will not submit it to the Utah court to earn billions, maybe they
will submit evidence to Delaware to keep from losing the millions they have
left.

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 07:01 AM EST
I think this filing _is_ part of SCO's strategy. There are two reasons for it
that I can see. One is that they are trying to generate sympathy for themselves
to use in the jury trial. When O'Gara's motion is denied SCO will use that to
try to paint IBM as dishonest and shady before the jury.

The second thing is that this is a tit-for-tat strike at IBM. SCO believes that
IBM has improperly released source code and destroyed the value of SCO's IP. If
the unsealed documents reveal proprietary IBM or third party code then SCO
believes this will destroy the value of IBM's IP.

Of course both these reasons imply SCO is wildly out of touch with reality.

[ Reply to This | # ]

  • Jury Trial? - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 09:43 AM EST
Did IBM ever distribute Linux?
Authored by: nick_danger on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 08:22 AM EST
This caught my eye:
On March 6, 2003, SCO Group and others filed this action in Utah state court against IBM asserting that IBM had improperly incorporated aspects of SCO's UNIX operating system in versions of Linux distributed by IBM.
Did IBM ever distribute a version of Linux, or have they only contributed to the Linux code base? Is there a difference? Does contributing the code constitute distribution? Does it constitute distribution as a "version of Linux?"

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: Morosoph on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 08:43 AM EST
The point of view these motions reflect can be summed up in
this sentence:

    "The public's interest in the evolution of open source
software and the perhaps contervailing public interest in the protection of
intellectual property far outweigh the interests of the parties in keeping
information which is not truly confidential under the seal of this
Court."
I don't read this as you do, PJ.
How telling that they imagine that open source software
is threatening intellectual property. Linux, the kernel, is released under the
GPL, which license is founded on and depends upon copyright law to protect it.
You'd think a firm that O'Gara says specializes in IP law would know that. Linux
doesn't threaten intellectual property. It just threatens some proprietary
software companies' bottom line. That really isn't the same thing at all.
Microsoft and SCO might want us to imagine we are all equally threatened by
Linux, but actually, *we* are benefited by it, because it saves us money and
spares us a lot of malware problems and just works very reliably. Not to mention
enjoyably.
What this filing is doing is assuming that Linux does infringe upon SCO's IP, and suggesting that to rule in favour of the community would be at the expense of IP law. This wording is presupposing SCO's view of the world. I do not believe that this is directed towards the GPL per se, except perhaps in suggesting that free software developers are a bunch of thieves, with the anti-proprietry nature of the GPL being presented as "evidence" for such developers' ill-will towards IPR as a whole, so by implication less likely to respect it.

I remember the AdTI saying something similar last April.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Be careful what you ask for
Authored by: overshoot on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 08:52 AM EST
I can see it now:

"The Court orders that the parties prepare redacted copies of all materials
for publication. The Court also orders that the parties justify to the Court
all material to be kept sealed."

"Finally, the Court orders that petitioners G2 bear all costs associated
with compliance with the above orders."

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 08:57 AM EST
"...Here's my impression: this is intended to harrass and hopefully
embarrass IBM, and maybe gain some PR value. They apparently hate IBM and Open
Source, both SCO and O'Gara, judging by their words and deeds, and maybe SCO
couldn't figure out a way to get the records unsealed on their own. Something
that IBM wants kept confidential SCO seems to want out there very much..."

As Ms. O'Gara's past history has amply demonstrated, journalist or not, her bias
towards the SCO and Microsoft interests in this case is exceptionally strong.
Sufficiently strong to make any action taken by her that might bear directly or
indirectly on this case immediately suspect.

I agree with PJ to the extent that, in as much as her filing could potentially
serve to retard the progress of the SCO v. IBM case, Ms. O'Gara may be acting as
the clandestine agent of SCO and/or Microsoft in this matter.

My question would be, is it possible that by filing a poorly crafted motion even
more delay could be introduced into this case, possibly to provide Ms. O'Gara a
little more time to re-draft the motion...?

On the other hand, removing my tinfoil hat, I would have to adopt the position
that Ms. O'Gara's actions in filing a poorly drafted, baffling motion are little
more than the further antics of yet another member of the 'Keystone Cops'
slapstick legal comedy that has characterized much of the SCO side of this
spectacle.

With these people, can anything really surprise us any more?

(GL) Groklaw Lurker [Not logged in]
End the Tyranny, Abolish Software Patents!

[ Reply to This | # ]

Delay? What delay?
Authored by: soronlin on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 09:29 AM EST
IANAL, so I may very well be talking rubbish, but:

I don't see a reason for any delay caused by this motion. The court has access
to all the documents, and the G2 motion is not going to affect what the court
has access to. G2 does not complain of any damages, to itself or any other, let
alone any irreparable ones. It does absolutely no harm to resolve this motion in
its own time, in parallel with the main case. It is not the court's
responsibility to handle PR for a third party, and it is not the responsibility
of a third party to complain if SCOG are suffering damages.

[ Reply to This | # ]

The Truth is your friend
Authored by: clark_kent on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 09:51 AM EST
Some people may think I am old fashioned or totally stupid to claim that the
"Truth is your friend," but what is this all about. This is about
several things.

1) The true core of the issues and identifying them.

2) The complete resolution of the issues.

3) The effectiveness of the Court to administer justice in how it interprets the
Law in addressing the issues.

4) The effectiveness of communication of the issues by both parties.

Even if O'Gara and company has an alterior motive, won't the ultimate decisions
be left to the courts? Do not the courts need to be informed of the breadth and
width of the issues, some of which is not common knowledge?

This whole process is VERY public as is, compared to well known Microsoft
legislation. I truely believe this type of exposure of litigation is something
Microsoft wanted to avoid. I believe Microsoft has depended on the lack of
knowledge and nievety of the general public to push their Monopoly. That is why
they thought a company like SCO could go ahead of them and test the waters since
it was a failing company to begin with. Everything to gain with little to lose
in the whole scope of things.

Nobody is settling here. This is going to be resolved once and for all. It is
about time nobody settled a case like this. I believe settling is one reason why
Microsoft is so successful. Settling doesn't really resolve the truth of the
matter. It just backs down the agressor, who retains the power of control. Here,
we are letting the Law dictate and the general public will benefit in the long
run.

I say let the flood gates open up. But I believe the exposure should be fair
from both sides. And the more IBM has to give up information, so should SCO's be
exposed as well. SCO should be opened up just as deep and just as wide as
desired of IBM by O'Gara and co.

And just as O'gara is going to bat for SCO, now that PJ is free from the OSRM,
would PJ be interested in becoming a direct equalization factor in this case? I
think that is what SCO wants is for PJ to publically "take sides"
since Groklaw has made such an impact in preventing SCO from just bulldozing
ahead. Or maybe O'Gara is interested in becoming the alter-PJ? Time will tell.

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O'Gara's motives
Authored by: codswallop on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 10:17 AM EST
It seems unlikely that O'Gara is in bed with SCO. I suspect her motivation is
dislike of certain parts of the open source movement. As Harlan Wilkerson has
pointed out, she was savagely attacked by them over her investigation of the
BSDI scandal. She's not one to forgive.

She has asked for everything to be unsealed. Since most of it was sealed at
SCO's request, they have the most too lose from this, not IBM. The hearing
transcript was sealed by Judge Wells sua sponte. Satan will be hosting the
Icecapades in the iron city of Dis before that gets unsealed. Ogara is willing
to take a real chance of damaging SCO for an imaginary outside chance of
damaging IBM. She is also burdening SCO's legal team at a time when they aren't
likely to get any more delays, just because they have more to do. Not my idea of
a friend.

This shows once again that the enemy of my enemy is a fair weather friend at
best, and the forecast at SCO is stormy.

---
IANAL This is not a legal opinion.
SCO is not a party to the APA.
Discovery relevance is to claims, not to sanity.

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Negative precedent conspiracy?
Authored by: darkonc on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 10:26 AM EST
I remember once making a third party motion, and when I talked to other lawyers with associated interests, they asked me to carefully reconsider my motion because, if my motion was denied, it could be used against them later on in a similar motion.

Perhaps there's another explanation? Perhaps there's something coming up (or already out there) that SCO wants to prevent being made public -- so they want the protective order written in stone. One way to write the protective order in stone is to make a motion against it, and have that motion denied.

Once that happens, if there's something that SCO wishes to keep from prying eyes and someone from Groklaw makes an application to get access to it, SCO will be able to point to the denial of the G2 motion and that's going to provide an additional bar to jump over.

In other words G2 is just the straw man with a doomed application.

---
Powerful, committed communication. Touching the jewel within each person and bringing it to life..

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Is O'Gara really brilliant??
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 10:34 AM EST
How much do you think the judge knows about the outside world and the people
surrounding this lawsuit??

Could O'Gara be doing an end around trying to get the judge upset at
"Linux"?

Think about it this way:
1) SCO sues IBM saying Linux is flawed.
2) IBM repeatedly says "show us the code!"
3) Now, LinuxGram comes and says "Hey judge unseal those records its not
fair that we can not see them!!"

So my question is, could the judge be thinking that this is coming from someone
in support of IBM and not in support of SCO? And if so, does that really have
any meaning behind it?

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Can I really be this dumb?
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 10:39 AM EST
I have just about had it up to my ears with all of this, I just want it over.
But I can't help but thinking that this should be the easiest case in the world
for SCO to prove, no?

Open source software, by definition, is provided as, well.... open. Therefore
all the source code is right there, plain as day, easy to see.

It seems that if SCO were really smart (which we know the answer to), they would
have quietly somehow tried to assert their right that they owned the copyrights.
Once that was asserted, then they could go after IBM. Even if IBM removed the
code that was infringing, SCO could still get damages from lost business, etc.
during the time the infringing code was in Linux.

Why is it that everyone is so afraid of open source? If someone was going to
steal my IP, I would WANT them to put it into open source software, it would be
much easier for me to find and identify as mine...

....or, as the subject line says, am I really dumb?

[ Reply to This | # ]

The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: blacklight on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 12:59 PM EST
I view the O'Gara filing as nothing more than a malicious attempt to interfere
with the trial process by raising the costs of litigation of the litigant being
targeted, i.e. IBM. And disclosing confidential material that IBM has designed
as confidential is as good as any a way to raise IBM's cost of litigation and
attempt to discourage IBM from further litigating. Just as there is such a thing
as sleazy lawyers, there is also such a thing as sleazy newspaper publishers and
sleazy reporters. The judge owes the litigants a fair trial, and this obligation
of the judge has to take priority over any consideration of freedom of the
press.

I note the following:

(1) Darl the Snarl talked about mountains of infringing code and couldn't
produce much more than a mole hill, which will be razed when QA (Quality
Assurance) will be applied to it.

(2) Darl the Snarl asserted that the AT&T contract gave SCO some mighty
expansive rights, a claim that has been thoroughly punctured.

(3) Darl the Snarl made other assertions about the USL-UC settlement, which were
simply not substantiated once the text of the settlemnt was made available on
groklaw.

Any assertion has to be fanciful to say the least, that IBM's confidential
material could turn the groklaw community's analysis upside down

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The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, December 02 2004 @ 05:12 PM EST
...which is why the need to unseal.

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The O'Gara Filing - PDF and text
Authored by: blacklight on Friday, December 03 2004 @ 01:15 AM EST
MO is nothing more than a stalking horse for SCOG.

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Why she is doing this - 3 reasons
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, December 04 2004 @ 05:28 PM EST
I don't buy 'the public needs to know' line. Something else is behind this. I
see 2 options.

1. She has been receiving leaked information from SCO. The only way for her to
receive this information was that SCO provided it to her, because the court
record of the accidental leak (when SCO's lawyer was reading from a sealed
document in open court), was redacted to exlude the leak, and she was not
present in court to hear it first hand. Methinks this filing might be an attempt
to change to rules of the game, so that her past illegal activities can be of
less consequence.

2. She is tight with SCO. SCO feels a need to communicate soem more FUD, but
their past violation of court orders, and their frequent press escapades makes
it impossible to do any stock pumping FUD, wituout at the same time completely
blow away the last bit of patience of judges Wells and Kimball. They can leak no
more, they can FUD no more. Their only chance of FUD would be to have sealed
IBM documents opened up, and hope that Forbes and other press whores can do
their bidding and tale any juicy bits from IBM's sealed documents to drum up a
nice stock pump and dump frenzy for SCO.

3. Gara probably already has received all the details in the leaked documents
(how could she otherwise know these details without being privvy? Somebody at
SCO is feeding her.) , and have the FUD articles written up ready for
publishing. But she can't do it untill the records are unsealed, or she'll end
up in a Utah slammer.

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