SCO Moves More Eggs to Legal Basket

SCO Group's(SCOX Quote) transformation from software pioneer into heat-seeking litigation missile continues apace.

The Lindon, Utah, company on Tuesday laid out the terms of a big pay package it is granting to the firm of attorney-for-all-seasons David Boies to lead its efforts to defend the company's patent portfolio, which it believes gives it a stake in the Linux operating system. The cost to the company's balance sheet -- including a charge related to the legal effort's financing -- will be around $17 million.

The former Santa Cruz Operation has this year managed to turn its stock into a lottery ticket on the outcome of a brutal patent dispute with IBM(IBM Quote) over the guts of Linux, which it claims incorporate a protected version of Unix. It sold a $50 million convertible note last month to fund the effort and has seen its stock vault from around a buck in February to Monday's close of $13.65. ...