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by tacotuesday 3895 days ago
Didn't Microsoft do this with SCO vs Linux though? In that case, it was big incumbent interested in squashing a scrappy start-up disrupting the industry.

In a case like that, it seems like a tool to perpetuate economic inequality.
2 comments
cornellwright 3895 days ago
Yes, but how do you stop that? Isn't any investment in a company involved in litigation implicitly an investment in the litigation? (Or at least a bet that the litigation isn't material to their business.)

The whole SCO vs IBM case was pretty unscrupulous, sleazy, and opportunistic, I agree. I'm not arguing that I have the solution to stop abuses like this. I'm saying that limiting financing is not it.

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JoshTriplett 3895 days ago
> Yes, but how do you stop that?

Not by limiting financing, but by recognizing and shutting down barratry and stunts.

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magila 3895 days ago
Microsoft only needed to go through SCO to hide their involvement in the case. If they hadn't cared about a possible DoJ investigation MS could have simply bought SCO and brought the suit themselves. Also, SCO's main lawsuit was against IBM, the complete opposite of a "scrappy start-up".
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