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Bottom line: Hidden text indicates that SCO spent considerable time building a case against the bank. As some have learned the hard way, Word can also display the original version of a document and all subsequent changes. For more info: Track the players A feature in the word-processing software tracks changes to documents, who made those changes, and when they were made. These notations typically are invisible to someone reading a Word document. But as some lawyers, businesspeople and politicians have learned the hard way, Word can also display so-called metadata in the document-including the original version and all subsequent changes. This information is available by viewing the document under original showing markup or final showing markup. The presence of hidden text in the SCO document is just the latest example of this workplace issue. According to a study by market research firm Vanson Bourne titled The Cost of Sharing, 90 percent of documents in circulation began as something else, but 57 percent of respondents were not aware that metadata may still exist in the their document. Microsoft addresses the issue on its Web site but adds that its 2003 version of Office provides a feature that lets users permanently remove the hidden text from Word. In the case of SCOs lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler, the Word document identified Bank of America as a defendant until Feb.
According to the document, it is unclear whether SCO was serious about suing the bank, whether it still intends to, or why the bank was dropped and replaced with DaimlerChrysler. But the hidden text indicates that SCO spent considerable time building a case against the bank and that it also considered extending allegations filed against IBM to Big Blues high-profile customers-in this case, Bank of America. Representatives of Bank of America and SCO, including SCOs attorneys, declined to comment on the document.
SCO has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition within the open-source community by contending that Linux contains proprietary source code owned by the company. Hackers have rendered SCOs Web site inaccessible for long periods. Picking apart the companys case and examining its motivations also has become a cottage industry on numerous Web blogs and Linux-related Web sites. Corporate America has taken note as well, thanks largely to a warning letter that SCO sent last May to 1,500 of the worlds largest companies, threatening that they could be legally liable for using Linux if they failed to obtain a license from the Utah-based company. What the invisible ink reveals Examples of the changes made to the Word document that later became SCOs lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler include the following:.
That apparently was a reference to the warning letters sent earlier by SCO. In its final form, SCOs suit against DaimlerChrysler was filed in Michigans Oakland County Circuit Court and alleges violations of the automakers Unix software agreement with SCO. In the original version that listed Bank of America as a defendant, the focus was copyright infringement and violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which would be the domain of the federal courts. SCO also cited alleged copyright infringement in the suit it filed in federal court Tuesday against AutoZone, but it did not include violations of the DMCA. In the original version identifying Bank of America as a defendant, the document also included these allegations against the bank and Linux developers, including leading Linux figure Linus Torvalds :. Defendant acquired a license from IBM to use UNIX/AIX on or about December __, 2003 the BA UNIX/AIX License. Certain of plaintiffs copyrighted software code has been materially or exactly copied by Linus Torvalds and/or others for inclusion into one or more distributions of Linux with the copyright management information intentionally removed. In seeking relief from the courts, the original version of the document also said that it sought: impounding all Linux software products in the custody or control of Defendant through the pendency of these proceedings;
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