In a followup to my comments yesterday on SCO and the BBC, it turns out that SCO added a copyright claim against IBM today. It still has nothing to do with patents, so the BBC article has not yet been made correct by changes in reality. Also, I might forgive the BBC for saying that the court contest is scheduled for next year. The hearings are going on right now, to determine whether the trial will occur. If SCO prevails, they will have a trial next year.

Linux Today - CNET News: SCO Adds Copyright Claim to IBM Suit: "'SCO Group has significantly widened its Unix and Linux lawsuit against IBM, adding a copyright infringement claim to the already complicated case, sources said Thursday."

The Judges have ruled: gay marriages cannot be stopped in Massachessetts. Meanwhile, back at the bat cave...

FOXNews.com - Politics - Bush: Gay-Marriage Ruling 'Deeply Troubling': "Bush's statement was similar to his remarks in his Jan. 20 State of the Union address in which he said that if judges 'insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process.' Conservative activists and religious groups, banding together under the name the Arlington Group, gathered in Washington this week to plot strategy. Some participants said they left with a White House commitment to fight for a constitutional amendment. 'We were given direct assurances from the very top,' said Kelly Shackelford, president of the Texas-based Free Market Foundation. 'There's no doubt. It's our understanding that the president is waiting for a day when there is not a massive news story to do it himself.' Another group, the Alliance Defense Fund based in Scottsdale, Ariz., sent out an e-mail asserting, 'This morning, President Bush agreed to join the effort to push for the passage of this amendment.' Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a leading group of social conservatives, said, 'I would not be surprised at all to see the president come out very soon calling on Congress to act.' He said he could not speak for Bush but that 'it appears that things are falling in line for that to happen.'

For reference purposes, these are the legal rights extended to heterosexual married couples. Everyone should recognise them as part of the well-known definition of marriage, universally accepted by all societies for the past 6,000 years:

Legal Marriage Rights Typically Granted by the State: Assumption of Spouse?s Pension Automatic Inheritance Automatic Housing Lease Transfer Bereavement Leave Burial Determination Child Custody Crime Victim?s Recovery Benefits Divorce Protections Domestic Violence Protection Exemption from Property Tax on Partner?s Death Immunity from Testifying Against Spouse Insurance Breaks Joint Adoption and Foster Care Joint Bankruptcy Joint Parenting (Insurance Coverage, School Records) Medical Decisions on Behalf of Partner Certain Property Rights Reduced Rate Memberships Sick Leave to Care for Partner Visitation of Partner?s Children Visitation of Partner in Hospital or Prison Wrongful Death (Loss of Consort) Benefits Federally-Granted Legal Marriage Rights: Access to Military Stores Assumption of Spouse?s Pension Bereavement Leave Immigration Insurance Breaks Medical Decisions on Behalf of Partner Sick Leave to Care for Partner Social Security Survivor Benefits Sick Leave to Care for Partner Tax Breaks Veteran?s Discounts Visitation of Partner in Hospital or Prison

[This information was provided by 'Nikitona' at Cross and Flame]

US has crazy copyright laws, but Australia wins the biscuit for their vigilante search warrants:

UPDATE: MIPI raids Sharman Networks, Brilliant Digital Entertainment: ZDNet Australia: News: Business: "Music Industry Piracy Investigations this morning raided the offices of P2P companies Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, along with the homes of key executives and several ISPs. MIPI obtained an Anton Pilar order – which allows a copyright holder to enter a premises to search for and seize material that breaches copyright without alerting the target through court proceedings – yesterday from Justice Murray Wilcox, and began raiding premises in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria this morning searching for documents and electronic evidence to support its case against the peer-to-peer companies. In addition to the offices of Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment (BDE), MIPI raided the residences of Sharman Networks’ CEO Nikki Hemming, Brilliant Digital Entertainment Chief Executive Officer and President Kevin Burmeister and Phil Morle, Director of Technology at Sharman Networks. Monash University, the University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales were also raided, as well as four ISPs including Telstra.

Why was the MIPI allowed to raid Universities and ISPs? According to the article, "The ISPs and Universities were raided to gain evidence about the operators of the Kazaa network." Does this mean that the Anton Pilar order allows them to raid any and all premises which might have useful information in a copyright dispute? Is it not limited to the home or business of an infringer? Could the MIPI raid the phone company with the intention of siezing the phone records of Sharman Networks? (Actually I guess they did raid the phone company -- it's Telstra down there). I can just imagine how computer business would grind to a halt if this were permissible in the US. We'd have SCO thugs raiding the offices of anyone with revenue. Perhaps they'd be "siezing" disputed contract documents while they were at it... God, what a stupid law. Somehow, every time I think US law has gotten ridiculous on some subject, the Australians show up with some totally unexpected, assinine legal gizmo that hugely overshadows whatever we're doing wrong.

Here's an abysmal article on SCO and the MyDoom virus, from the BBC: BBC NEWS | Business | Linux cyber-battle turns nasty. The article is loaded with inaccurate information, speculation, and judgemental language. Among other things, the author insinuates that SCO's case against IBM is a patent dispute, that SCO has "patented Linux", that 800,000 lines of source code are in dispute, and that the case is scheduled for court next year. In fact, the case is in court right now, and SCO has made no formal claims based on patents or copyrights. It's claims against IBM are a dispute over contracts. SCO claims ownership of innovations produced at IBM. They have admitted in legal documents that they don't know what the infringing code is, because they have never seen it, because it originated at IBM and was distributed by IBM. If the court rules that, by a specious interpretation of their contracts, SCO owns IBM's source code, then they could proceed with a copyright claim against recent Linux kernels. Perhaps most annoying is the author's claims about the origins of the MyDoom virus:

If anyone's anger has no measure, it is the wrath of internet zealots who believe that code should be free to all (open source). So, it seems likely that the perpetrators of the MyDoom virus and its variants are internet vandals with a specific grudge. ...The attack also raises the possibility of internet blackmail, with companies threatened by individuals or even an individual who might be anywhere. This attack, though, is not blackmail. It is about malice not money.

Actually, it is not known who originated the MyDoom virus or why. One theory adopted by some experts is that the virus was authored by Russian spammers who had no particular interest in Linux or SCO, except perhaps as a distraction. This coverage is as bad as the BBC's report on the "Florida Medical Student Terrorists/Darkies at a Shoney's in Georgia" coverage in Fall, 2002, when they just repeated sensationalist garbage from American media, long after it had been discredited. Followup: The Slashdot comments on this topic are actually pretty good. Here are some quotes:

"mirco" writes: Well, if MyDoom is indeed "la creme de la creme" in terms of Windows programing, then it is obvious its author is an expert Windows developer, isn't it ? So, it is quite flattering for the Linux community to associate any of its member to a multiplatform coding genius. "sniggly" adds: Is your reporter Stephen Evans aware that MyDoom is a virus that is perpetrated by MS Windows machines? Meaning the virus was written to run ON windows BY a windows programmer... Could Mr. Evans please next time indicate where on earth he finds the factual evidence to support his amazing theory that mydoom is the "wrath of internet zealots who believe that code should be free to all", or are we now to believe the BBC supports baseless ranting against a group as diverse as those who support open source software? Couldn't it easily have been caused by disgruntled shareholders, maglignant ex employees or al quaeda for that matter? "arivanov" says: All you needed to do is point them to the securityfocus information and the kasperski press releases that clearly state that 1. The virus was posted via well known SPAM network used in counterfeight software peddling. This is also the reason why the infection went through the roof so fast (it got to too many people in too short time). 2. The virus has generally been traced to russian SPAM gangs. It is nothing to do with linux, sco, msft. It is just business as usual.

The Slashdot comments also point out some changes made to the article since it was first posted. (In fact, I could swear it was different the second time I read it). Hmmm.....

Damn. I have been forced to entertain the possibility that I'm not as big a nerd as I thought I was, because I'd never seen this before:

The Metric System Sucks! We are of the firm belief that the metric system sucks. It is a global conspiracy created to cause the downfall of all things that we know and love. Upon careful examination it is clear that the metric system is at least indirectly responsible for most of the world's problems, including but not limited to: Government conspiracy Microsoft Windows Rap Music Hondas and their drivers Transistors Pokemon Jerry Springer Televangelism Toxic waste The Republicans The Democrats Defective and bogus hardware Wrenches that dont fit Starbucks coffee Communism Soccer The Euro

Nice. Transistors are now officially one of the world's problems, which is heartening, because that's what I've been saying all along! Even cooler than that site is the fact that I was directed to it from the links page of my new favorite band, Metric:

www.ilovemetric.com

I saw them in concert last night, and it was great. It fact, in order to reclaim at least a modicum of my nerdosity, I'm going to go ahead and say that Metric r0x0rs.

Fun: The Enterprise Mission: "Is THIS why Spirit has a 'Problem'?" ..."Is THIS why NASA is Lying about the True Colors of Mars?"