SCO's ill-conceived quest to pump the free software world for cash money via patent litigation hit new heights this week. We already reported on the supposed licensing fees for Linux, but we didn't dwell long enough on the implications of some of the terms. Lemme shout this from the rooftops here. SCO wants to charge $32 per embedded device, including things like TiVo and Sharp's Zaurus, according to EETimes:
The $32 fee applies to any embedded system regardless of whether it is a Tivo set-top box which uses embedded Linux or some models of the Sharp Zaurus which also use that kernel.
Amazing.
Between SCO's patent-mongering and the digital rights management hooks soon to be embedded in PC hardware, we may have to take TR underground. My original plan with DRM looming was simply to convert absolutely everything we do to Linux, but SCO is threatening to block that path. You're likely to find me holed up, eating canned goods, taking target practice, and reviewing circa 1999 hardware available on eBay running clandestine copies of Linux. I'll have a Shuttle cube powered by a Honda generator, with a Pringles-can antenna transceiving Wi-Fi from the roof of my backwoods shed. I plan to take up banjo.
News source: Tech Report
