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Novell Responds to SCO's 2nd Extension Request: Please Make it the Last, Yr. Honor

By Pamela Jones et al.

Novell has filed its Response to Debtors' Second Motion to Extend Exclusivity [PDF], and you could sum up its message to the court like this: Enough already, but if you do grant another extension, please let it be the last.

SCO's position is that it can't file a plan until Utah reaches a decision on how much SCO owes Novell. Oh really? Novell says. Then how come it filed a plan already which they seemed able to file prior to any judgment from Utah?

The position the Debtors take in the Motion assumes the necessity of completing the District Court Litigation for plan formulation even though in their prior plan [they] were ready to proceed without a judgment there. The Debtors give no reason why they no longer can take the approach of the prior plan, an approach the Debtors did not disavow even as they withdrew that plan. And in light of that fact and the history of futility in these cases, Novell sees no grounds for a further extension of the deadline. If the Court is, nevertheless, inclined to grant a further extension, Novell urges the Court to do so in a way that makes it clear to the Debtors that this is their last chance and that they must act expeditiously. The Court can do this by making the Third Deadlines the outside deadlines under any circumstances and requiring the Debtor to proceed with their plan sooner than the Third Deadlines if the District Court rules in the District Court Litigation sooner.

Not that the bankruptcy court has shown any inclination to hurry SCO along. Remember the first court hearing, when Novell asked for protection from the court, requesting that money it thought it was owed, according to the August 10th Order from Utah, be put in a trust, because otherwise the money would disappear? The judge declined to help, and he said his order would not prejudice Novell, but lo and behold, the money is now pretty much gone. Perhaps he should have listened to Novell back in September.

Full post as published by Groklaw on June 10, 2008 (boomark / email).