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SCO Lawyers Ambush IBM Witness 199

Posted by Zonk from the what-is-this-case-about-again dept.
Mr. E. writes "In a sneaky legal maneuver, SCO's lawyers managed to ambush an IBM witness into having to give a no-holds-barred deposition in front of an unrelated court in another state. After SCO was limited in what they could depose Mr. Otis Wilson about by the Utah court, the company blindsided IBM with last-second subpoenas before a North Carolina court. IBM's lawyer was on vacation at the time, didn't give prior notice to big blue, and now they've won the right to ask him anything they want. They've asked him about whether he has a criminal record, about ex-wives, etc. and they have four hours in which to do so. According to PJ of Groklaw, 'I'd say [Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells] has thrown poor Mr. Wilson to the wolves in North Carolina and told him it's his own fault.' SCO, of course, is fishing for something — anything — they can use to stave off IBM's Motion for Summary Judgement which is fast approaching, and if they can somehow trip up Mr. Wilson, they might be able to do just that. However, there was at least one line of cold comfort in Magistrate Well's order '[T]he court wishes to note that its decision should not be viewed as any type of invitation to reopen the discovery process.'"
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SCO Lawyers Ambush IBM Witness More

SCO Lawyers Ambush IBM Witness

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  • It Could've Been Worse... (Score:5, Funny)

    by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @05:31PM (#15958579)
    The poor guy's search history might've been released by AOL.
  • yes, but do to the limited genetic knowledge at the time, they split into either overly opinionated engineers who fight there point of view to the death regardless of facts, or MBA's who insist on have all possible knowledge from everyone before rendering an opinion.

    It was a tragic period the explains a lot about IBM in the 1980's

  • Sssllloowww.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by bobwoodard ( 92257 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @05:47PM (#15958695)
    He'd... better... talk... reeeaaaallll... sssllllloooooowwwwww....

  • I Miss SCO-A-Day News (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @05:55PM (#15958763)
    They were the good ol' days when we had something to laugh about on a daily basis -- whether Darl issued another encyclical, DiDio and the Yank-and-Grope guys threw more FUD, or when they outed Linux as the secret love child of Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. Good times. Even watching SCO stock tank was fun. Did their earnings go down yet? Did their strange math make it seem like they're getting new money coming in? Has the SEC looked into their supposed pump/dump scheme yet? Hella good times.

    Now we're down to some lawyers having their way with a guy for 4 hours. That doesn't even make reality TV, guys. Really. So la-dee-da...just let me know to whom I write this check for $699 for my copy of Ubuntu, mmmkay?

  • Your Honour.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @05:58PM (#15958774) Homepage Journal

    SCO Attorney: "Let the record show that Mr. Wilson likes chocolate ice cream, baseball and buys his underwear at J.C. Penney. Which I think speaks for itself in regards to the nefarious activities of IBM!!!"

    Judge: "I'd say it speaks volumes what a loonie lot you are. I find for IBM"

  • Re:IANAL (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @05:58PM (#15958775)
    I would love to read what other /. readers who actually are lawyers think.

    Money money money money money money money money money money money money money...
    Lawsuit, Lawsuit!
    Money money money money money money money money money money money money money...
    Lawsuit, Lawsuit!
    Money money money money money money money money money money money money money...
    Lawsuit, Lawsuit!
    Money money money money money money money money money money money money money...
    A judge! Juuudge! Juuudge! Ooooooh, it's a judge! It's some
    .
    Money money money money money money money money money money money money money...
    Lawsuit, Lawsuit!
    Money money money money money money money money money money money money money...
    Lawsuit, Lawsuit!
    Money money money money money money money money money money money money money...
    Lawsuit, Lawsuit!
    Money money money money money money money money money money money money money...
    A judge! Juuudge! Juuudge! Ooooooh, it's a judge! It's some...

      / to the tune of "Badger badger badger"

  • Re:Theres motherf*ckin snakes in the Court!!! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Intron ( 870560 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:03PM (#15958803)
    You missed "due to", "on having all" and "1980s". Please turn in your grammar Nazi swastika.

  • legal procedure or fierce battle? (Score:3, Funny)

    by thanasakis ( 225405 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:06PM (#15958817)
    "Lawyers Ambush Witness", "sneaky legal maneuver", "blindsided IBM", "has thrown poor Mr. Wilson to the wolves", "is fishing for something", "trip up Mr. Wilson", "one line of cold comfort" etc....

    I love it when a boring legal procedure takes such epic proportions. The narrator really knows his job!..

  • Stupidity VS bribery (Score:3, Funny)

    by Valacosa ( 863657 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:07PM (#15958821)
    Why does everyone assume he was stupid? Maybe he was bought off and "threw the game" so to speak for SCO?

  • Advice for Mr. Wilson (Score:5, Funny)

    by toupsie ( 88295 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:08PM (#15958825) Homepage
    If they have only 4 hours to depose you, talk v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. Your name is Otis so no one can hold that against you -- plus you are in North Carolina so no one will notice...

  • Re:Theres motherf*ckin snakes in the Court!!! (Score:2, Funny)

    by SpaceLifeForm ( 228190 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:08PM (#15958827)
    But how did they know he was on vacation?
    Was SCOX tipped off by NSA?

  • I don't have any trouble (Score:5, Funny)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:16PM (#15958868)
    fighting a wizard in his keep. I just have my rouge hide in the shadows for a critical hit in round 3, my warrior hacks away with his axe, the Ranger with his bow, one wizard heals, one protects and one casts Gotterdamurung every turn. I find the same strategy works aganst lawyers, only they've got more HP.

  • Re:Theres motherf*ckin snakes in the Court!!! (Score:3, Funny)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:29PM (#15958939) Homepage Journal

    Pulling some underhanded almost unethical manuver like this really shows that SCO is coming undone at the seams.

    "Captain's Log, 2368.7: Alien's posing as castaways on Anilorac 5 have turned out to be "attorneys" from a planet Cheron and claim to be have been in pursuit of another alien in sickbay found aboard a lost shuttle for the past 50,000 years. They have taken control of the Enterprise with something they called "Writs" and have used "Powers of Attorneys" to disable the Enterprise's self-destruct mechanism. We are currently unable to pursuade them or regain any control over the ship. I may have to ask Mr. Spock to kick them in the crotches if no other option presents itself."

  • It's a Trap! (Score:3, Funny)

    by SeaFox ( 739806 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:31PM (#15958949)
    After SCO was limited in what they could depose Mr. Otis Wilson about by the Utah court, the company blindsided IBM with last-second subpoenas before a North Carolina court.

    I bet they already arranged his flight [snakesonaplane.com] to North Caroilina, too!

  • Re:I don't have any trouble (Score:4, Funny)

    by Moofie ( 22272 ) <lee AT ringofsaturn DOT com> on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:40PM (#15959002) Homepage
    Your rouge, huh? Well, my Mascara of Smiting will spank your hiding in shadows rouge every time.

  • Article Text (Score:2, Funny)

    by NosTROLLdamus ( 979044 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @06:44PM (#15959033) Journal
    Don't forget to pay your $699 licensing fee you cock-smoking teabaggers.
  • SCO seem to be irritating the judge in Utah. IBM could try playing this card and get the North Carolina court (and judge) found in contempt of the Utah court for trying to alter the proceedings of the original case with this new nonsense of a case

    You can do that, right?

    Alternatively, he could just alternate between "I can't hear you", "I don't understand you", "I don't understand the question", "do you mean this or that?", answering something other than 'yes' or 'no' to a yes/no question, "sorry, pardon? I was distracted by that fly/laybird/pigeon", "I don't remember" and having his own lawyer shout 'objection' a lot.
    Mix that up with a good dose of verbal acrobatics, a unscheduled power cut, dozens of toilet breaks, a quick dose of flu/chicken pox/bubonic plague, myriad bomb/fire alarms, the whole case getting lost due to a mysterious computer error, the electrical frequency in the building being increasing - making the clocks go 50% faster, a convenient paper cut and the SCO lawyers going down with food poisoning. The four hours will fly by!

    IANAL, can you tell?

  • Re:Theres motherf*ckin snakes in the Court!!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by msaulters ( 130992 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @07:31PM (#15959268) Homepage
    The distinction between 'ethical' and 'legal' doesn't matter to me in this case. These people are simply DISHONORABLE. I move for a change of venue to a Klingon court.

  • Re:Sssllloowww.... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22, 2006 @09:25PM (#15959718)
    Better yet come down with a really bad 24-hour case of tourettes.

  • Re:Wait... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23, 2006 @03:17AM (#15960721)
    4 hours of questioning, eh? He should give what SCO wants. There is a proverb that says "Be careful of what you wish for, you may just get it".

    SCO lawyer: Have you ever been fired from a job for a misconduct?

    Wilson: Have I ever been fired from a job, like being downsized or getting a pinkslip? For a misconduct? What did you mean by a misconduct... like taking home a paperclip from the office or drinking the gourmet coffee one cup too many or did you mean like a serious stuff like rounding up the expenses to the nearest dollar? I can't really rememeber. I wasn't get fired from newspaper delivery job I did during my high school year. That's for sure. Nobody complained about the job I did then. In fact, I quit the newspaper delivery job when I went to college. I took a waitressing job then to help paying the tuition. I must have done one heck of a job looking from the tip I got. That lasted until my sophomore year when I could get a better job using my newly aqcuired skills. So again I wasn't fired for any misconduct like taking home paperclips. Or drinking too much coffee. No sir. The restaurant owners actually cried because of my quitting the job. He even offered me free paperclips. .... Blah ... Blah... Blah..

    2 hours later:
    Blah.. Blah... Blah...

    3.5 hours later:
    So you see, sir, The answer is no. I never got fired from a job for a misconduct.

    SCO lawyer: You were married and divorced several times, were you not?

    Wilson: Was I married and divorced several times like more than once? Oh, yes sir. In high school I met this girl .... Blah ... blah... blah.
    30 minutes later:
    Oops, times up. That is really too bad. I was going to tell you what happened during my bachelor party. It was wild, too.
  • Here goes.

    Any criminal activity is deamd outside a lawyers power. Droping nukes on a courtroom breaks a few laws.

    In other words: "Anything" and "Anything within my power" are 2 vastly diferent statements.

    Or at least, that's what I would say if this darned hook wasn't lodged in my gum. At least the bait was yumy.

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