Office of the Attorney General of California
Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550

Party Complaining:
Clay Graham
3401 Adams Ave. #A
PMB 164
San Diego California 92116

Complaint Against:
The SCO Group
355 South 520 West
Suite 100
Lindon, Utah 84042
Phone: 801-765-4999
Fax: 801-852-9088

Was a contract signed? Yes, GNU General Public License, attached
Can we send this complaint to the party you are complaining about? Yes


Mr. Bill Lockyer,

I am writing to express my concern over the actions of The SCO Group, Inc. Certain of these actions may have significant negative effect on California individuals and businesses.

In brief, in March of this year SCO filed a complaint against IBM (amended complaint filed June 16) in the US District Court for the District of Utah, alleging contract violations by IBM. In general SCO claims that IBM added intellectual property of SCO to the open source operating system Linux, in violation of the terms of various contracts to which SCO is the successor in interest. Since then IBM filed a counter claim in the same court (August 7), and Red Hat Inc., a Linux vendor has filed for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.

My concern arises from actions taken by SCO since these filings. SCO has shifted their focus from IBM to all users of Linux, claiming that as Linux contains unlicensed intellectual property of SCO, all such users must pay SCO for a license to use Linux. They have further stated that they will vigorously pursue such users, and prosecute them should they not buy this license.

The problem is that the claims that SCO has put forward are generally held to have little, if any merit by expert technical and legal opinion. If this is true, then SCO demanding license fees from users of Linux is questionable at best. Further, if one reads the public statements of SCO executive and SCO press releases on this matter, one sees that SCO has adopted a deliberately and unnecessarily threatening stance.

One responsibility of a party seeking redress in such matters is to mitigate. This SCO has consistently refused to do. The developers of Linux have been unanimous in their request that SCO tell them what parts of Linux are infringing upon SCO IP, so that they may remove it. SCO has stated that they will not reveal this information. In this light, the demand for license fees from Linux users borders on the extortionate.

I believe that it is appropriate for the Office of the Attorney General to make an initial assessment of this situation, with a view to possible further investigation. There are many users of Linux in our state, they use Linux because of the many benefits it confers. All these are under threat by SCO. Private users, charitable institutions, churches and schools may use it by reason of it's cost it is free. SCO has begun invoicing such users to pay them $200 for every desktop, and $700 or more for every server. This price will last till only October 15, after which the prices will approximately double. If they do not pay, SCO promises to sue them for damages.

Corporations choose Linux for technical reasons, not primarily for cost. SCO's actions include a challenge to the GNU General Public License, the terms under which Linux is distributed and developed. Besides the financial burden SCO's licensing would place on small business, SCO would also destroy the mechanism that was fundamental to Linux realizing the technical superiority which caused it's adoption.

In conclusion, I feel that the actions of SCO are unjustified and unwarranted, and if allowed to continue unchecked, will cause material harm to private and corporate citizens of our state. I have presented here only the briefest summary; as with any such controversy there are many factors and issues bearing on one's ultimate conclusions but any study, even brief will tend to support my position.

Should your office make such assessment as I have asked, I urge you not to stop with media pundits, but consult expert and informed opinion. To this end, I have attached a list of resources that that can serve as jumping off points for further research.

Please feel free to contact me at any time. Also please note that I am writing as a private citizen of California, not as an agent of my employer.

Thank you for your consideration of my letter.




Clay Graham
Concerned California Citizen

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General Public License - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.txt
Rosen Position Paper - http://www.osdl.org/docs/qa_re_sco_vs_ibm_html.html
Open Source Legal Position - http://www.opensource.org/halloween/halloween9.html
Perens Analysis of Disputed Code - http://perens.com/SCO/SCOSlideShow.html
Redhat Legal Position - http://www.redhat.com/about/presscenter/2003/press_sco.html
Monta Vista Software Legal Position - http://www.mvista.com/sco-ibm.html

It has been a little while since my last post, I guess I haven't had any strange dreams, or been consumed with anything too creative. Does that tell you something? I guess I have to say I am happy that I at least have my applications at home, lord knows I haven't been able to code at work in a long time.

I just upgraded my RedHat 9 to XIMIAN Evolution , and I love it. If you are a Linux head just go get it now. The really cool thing about it is that they have an MS Exchange connector, so IT can start migrating over to Linux desktops, at least in some portions of thier company. This means as more and more applications become available for Linux, MS becomes more and more legacy. I know I am not the only one thinking this.

RedHat also just announced that they are going towards a "bundled application server" strategy for RedHat 10, with builds of JONAS built right into the install. Then if you look at Eclipse JDT that has a direct plug in for the application server built in, you are looking at the future of web development for the next two years. I promise.

Ok, enough geek stuff, on to politics. I heard that Warren Buffet was hired by Ahhhnold to head up an economic counsel and then Warren did the unthinkable; he said that property taxes were too low in California. The thing I do like about AS (compared to other elephants) is that he doesn't always tow the same old line as most of those jerks, but he isn't going to win of them over going with Buffet, he is a guy who makes his economic choices other than politics, he makes them based on sound economic thinking. That's something the conservatives continue to bring back Fs on their report cards on. What is pitiful about the Terminator though, and why I can not vote for him, is the first thing he did was discount his expert and say he was wrong. Why hire an expert if you aren't going to listen to them? It just makes me a little cynical that's all, politics isn't about fixing this stuff, its about the appearance of making change, without true expectations or accountability.

I had a dream last night that I went to the hot dog stand to get a delicious polish link, and I started talking to this guy while the hot dog vendor prepared it for me. I was kindof distracted by the conversation and I notice it starts to rain. I am so engrosed in conversation that the next time I look over at the cart I see my polish, but its soggy and wet, totally unedible. As I wring the water out I plead with the cart vendor to me me another. Reluctantly he complies.

Fishing on Sunday was great but very tiring. It was so nice of Stephanie to get me that gift, she hates fish and fish smells. To get me that gift was a real sacrifice for her. I really love her. Hopefully the picture that a few software developer guys I met on the trip from Pheonix took of me will come back and I'll show. More on the trip when the picture comes.

I read the most incredible quote this morning while sitting on the pot: "tolerance is the rice pudding of modern behavior", man oh man is that ever true.

Well today is my birthday, and Stephanie made me breakfast in bed. Man if I didn't have her I would be lost. Its strange being 36, well I guess every one of them is strange, but I wonder if I am where I am "supposed" to be. Its a stupid thought I know, but it takes a concious mind to supress the call of Leviathan.

Strange dreams, lost a really fast go cart, and a movie star from Austrialia wanted me to be her butler. NO WAY!

I read about the blackout on the eastern coast what seems to be millions wandering the streets in some sort of J. G. Ballard world, and my eminent birthday (tomorrow), a vision pops into my tired brain. I had a bad day today, dealing with some people who are so myopic that it is questionable if they even see that they are alive. I am somehow drawn to think of Kali. Kali is a destroyer with a skin color of a storm about to break, she stands over Shiva who represents the consciousness of what IS.

The storm destroys the perceptions of what is, what is possible, and in doing that new possibilities occur. The destruction commonly is quite painful, so often we resist it. I seriously that myself and most of the world around me right now is much like Shiva in this picture. What will the storm be that makes new opportunities possible?

Absolutely enthraling web log GROKLAW, on the legal aspects SCO brew ha ha. So the real reason is the stock price, and an aquistion strategy. Oh well, you can find an a*hole who will be a jerk for a buck just about anywhere.

Well it is official. I have been swept away by IBM vs. SCO fever, totally transfixed on the whole soap opera. I guess my first question is what in the world is SCO thinking? It seems as obvious on the surface as a scam, kind of like the European City Guide scam or something. I just wonder who talked the CEO of SCO Darl McBride into doing this hair brained thing? They may sell a couple of licences by tricking scardy cat CIOs but in no way is that going to cover expenses from the counter suit.
Not to mention that people are now rooting for Goliath (how did IBM work that?).

KILL PINGUIN KILL!

(CBS/AP) Still-secret sections of Congress' Sept. 11 report examine interactions between Saudi businessmen and the royal family that may have intentionally or unwittingly aided al Qaeda or the suicide hijackers, according to people who have seen the report.

It suggests that one, and possibly two, Saudi men who encountered the hijackers or their acquaintances were tied to Saudi intelligence and that a Muslim imam in the United States may have been a facilitator for some hijackers, the sources said, speaking to The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity.

Citing its own sources in its Saturday editions, The New York Times says, "These findings ... help to explain why the classified part of the report has become so politically charged, causing strains between the United States and Saudi Arabia."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/03/world/main566412.shtml

Facing the Saudi problem
Perhaps the biggest unsolved mystery left over from the attacks is, How much help -- financial and otherwise -- does bin Laden get from old friends in Saudi Arabia, and why hasn't the U.S. dealt more harshly with the Saudi problem? Treasury officials have been arguing for months to come down harder on Saudis who were giving cash to known bin Laden charity fronts.

Last year Princess Haifa al-Faisal, wife of the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was found to have given money directly to the family of a Saudi man in San Diego who befriended and assisted two of the 9/11 hijackers. Yet the Administration acted as if she had merely misplaced her ATM card.

Some branches of the Saudi royal family (a clan with 7,000 princes) actively cultivate ties with radical groups to gain political support in their own country, according to a former senior White House aide. Yet in Washington mere mention of a Riyadh connection with the war on terrorism remains a weird taboo. The Administration forced the joint panel to black out 28 straight pages of testimony about Saudi financial support for terrorists.

CNN.com - Could it happen again? - Aug. 4, 2003

I am planning to include co-joined twins or even tri-joined triplets in a new story that is loosely based on shock jocks. The idea is that shock jocks in the future will have porn stars on their shows, but instead of having fake boobs the porn stars have fake skin.

Joel had long greasy hair, a long nose like a the beak of a crow, and an awful voice that would cut through his guests/victims with the force of a rusty knife as he dissected the very nature of your depravity and then served it to you on a silver platter. There was a kind of genius to his technique; he reminded us that the human legacy is to suffer while we were willing eat from the tree of good and evil.

Joel Electra: Ok we have a great show for you today; you know it's so hard to get a date for a lot of desperate guys out there with all the genetic "diversity" we now have flying about. We have a show that I am sure a lot of guys are going to be beating off to tonight. Have you ever make wanted to fuck a chick with perfect skin? I mean perfect? Tonight we have one here tonight her name is Velveteen and she is also an adult digipal star so she is going to yield well and often if you know what I mean. Darling, how are you tonight? Can I pour a milkshake on your back and then lick it off please? My god there isn't one pimple on your back is there?

Velveteen: Sure Joel, I think you're cute.

Joel Electra: No you just know I am rich, you slut. My skin is gross, I have pimples that are bigger than my dick, and when they pop more comes out too.

Velveteen: You know me too well, but I would let you anyway.

Well this part isn't about the co-joins but it gives you an idea of where it is going, so if you are interested in cojoined twins twins then this story may be interesting to you, even if it is on the seedy side.

Just to make it clear, I think the Hensel sisters are way cool and very inspirational even if the subject matter I write about isn't.

This is what I was waiting for. First of all I was ranting about this just last week, and now there seems to be a solution, it is called E85 ethanol and FFV vehicles can run on it. The next car I am buying is the FFV Explorer which I just love. It is perfect for me. I want the 6 cylinder model.




Now they say that it doesn't run quite as efficient as regular gasoline, but it costs less and burns allot cleaner so it seems like it all comes out to be about the same, and best of all the fuel comes from beets. It also sounds as though there is a new Ethanol mixing plant opening here in San Diego so I bet California farmers will benefit. I have been looking at similar headlines around the United States. If I can make a beet farmer rich instead of a Saudi I am all for it.

The cost is very reasonable the sticker price for a fully outfitted Ford Explorer was about 30,000, and that isn't too far off from what I would have to spend on that car anyway. I found out about it because the alternative fuels station just opened up down the road from my house, in fact the next closest one is in Salt Lake City so I feel very lucky to have it so close. So if you live in San Diego and want one of these and I know you do because you are a patriot the contact:

Jarrett Joseph -AFV Sales Specialist jjoseph@pearsonford.com

My next mission is to get more E85 ethanol stations in the United States.

Fryday, finally.

I guess I am so burnt its hard to even think about what I want to say. I'll start with SIGGRAPH. Siggraph was this week and in my former life I was a 3D graphics person. I am still interested in 3D but mostly its just a hobby now (servers pay the bills). So I expected allot of friends of mine to come to San Diego because it was here, mostly at the beginning of the week, and hoping that I would get to see some of my old friends.

It has been a little hard to find people I like in San Diego, and I guess I have been a little isolated, so it was really important that I get to see some familiar faces. So when Wednesday rolled up, and I still hadn't heard from any of them my sensitive side started showing.

Well sometimes you are loved when it seems as you are not. What happened next was entirely unexpected. The party bomb dropped!

Greg Kulz calls "Clay there is going to be a VJ war with killer video from 7-9, show up!, I am really sorry I couldn't call earlier!" Tony calls me at 6PM, "Clay you have to come down to my party, we are celebrating selling media machines to many one". Oh my god.

Well it turns out these people really loved me, they just were not able to call or warn me that they wanted me around. Then I get calls from the other no shows: Fred and Vivian Outlaw, and Tom and Beverly. Party time central has landed. So to wrap it up my whole posse ended up coming over to my house last night and celebrating. Celebrating good business, freedom, love and each other. It was perfect.

It just tells me that when you are feeling sorry for yourself you shouldn't think that it isn't possible for the coin to flip.