German Linux association may drop SCO as member

LIVE Linux-Verband e.V., a German association promoting the interests of Linux users and software developers in the country, is mulling whether to drop the German subsidiary of The SCO Group Inc. as a member.

In a letter, LIVE has requested SCO Group GmbH to prove claims that developers and users of the open source Linux operating system are violating the company's intellectual property rights, the association said Tuesday in a statement.

In March, SCO filed a US$1 billion lawsuit against IBM Corp. for allegedly misusing Unix code, including misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract obligations, to bolster Linux efforts. And earlier this month, SCO said it will suspend its Linux business and warned commercial Linux users they may be liable for intellectual property violations that, it alleges, exist in the Linux source code.

The German Linux association is particularly annoyed by letters from SCO to users warning them that they could be liable for intellectual property violations.

At a June 5 meeting, the LIVE board will review SCO's response and decide whether to keep or drop SCO as a member.