SCO homing in on IBM's top executive

The SCO Group Inc. wants a crack at finding out what International Business Machines's top executive knows — or knew — about IBM's software development.

The possible deposition of Samuel Palmisano, IBM's chairman, president and chief executive officer, was among three motions argued Thursday in federal court in the computer operating system code case SCO has filed against IBM.

U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball took all three motions under advisement.

SCO has filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit claiming IBM violated its license with SCO by placing parts of SCO's Unix operating system source code into the code for Linux, a freely distributed system that is developed and enhanced by contributors worldwide. IBM and other companies make computers that use Linux. The IBM/SCO contract allowed IBM to use Unix internally but prohibited Unix from being transferred outside IBM.

SCO attorney Sean Eskovitz on Thursday claimed that Palmisano's "spearheading, approving and implementing" IBM's Linux strategy occurred when he was vice president in charge of IBM's computer server group. The idea was to move quickly to embrace Linux across IBM's server product line, but Eskovitz said IBM "took the shortcut" of putting elements of Unix into Linux.

SCO proposes a one-day deposition in New York in which SCO could learn the "intents and motive" for IBM's Linux strategy, Eskovitz said.

"That's unique knowledge that Mr. Palmisano has" that lower-level executives do not, Eskovitz said.

But IBM attorney David Marriott said Palmisano should not be deposed, or at least only after depositions from among an "enormous number" of other high-level executives are taken because "there is nothing unique with Mr. Palmisano's knowledge as to Linux." While "familiar" with the Linux strategy, Palmisano does not have unique knowledge about it, he said.

IBM plans to depose SCO's CEO and president, Darl McBride, "and we don't see any real reason for IBM's to be treated any differently," Eskovitz said. But Marriott repeated that Palmisano had no unique Linux strategy information and noted that SCO has only about 100 workers while IBM has 300,000. He suggested that, if granted, Palmisano's deposition last only three hours.

On another motion, SCO seeks to broaden its complaint against IBM because of documents it has uncovered through discovery after the deadline for amending the complaint passed. SCO attorney Edward Normand said SCO received the documents during the past six to eight months.