In an article entitled: “Linux Lawsuit Could Undercut Other ‘Freeware,’ the Wall Street Journal (p. B1) reports on SCO’s copyright infringement lawsuit against IBM.  IBM appears to be making a licensee estoppel argument, arguing that SCO, who had signed the General Public License regarding the software, cannot make claims regarding that software.

SCO’s law firm is Boies Shiller (Napster’s old firm), and its lead attorney is quoted as saying that “by allowing unlimited copying and modification, [the GPL] conflicts with federal copyright law, which allows software buyers to make only a single backup copy.  The GPL ‘is pre-empted by copyright law.'”