The company plan to invoice organizations, on the basis that Linux illegally contains SCO code, had changed following success of its UnixWare licensing program.

It denied it was using the threat of invoicing to put the screws on customers, by compelling them to sign-up or risk legal action, but admitted it could invoice customers in future.

Meanwhile, SCO has also extended indefinitely Silicon Graphics Inc’s [SGI] deadline to remedy alleged contractual violations also affecting its Unix IP.

SCO said in August it would begin invoicing Linux users for the code it claims has been illegally copied into Linux by licensees of its Unix System V code, IBM Corp [IBM] and Silicon Graphics Inc.

SCO seeks $699 per server running Linux and $199 per client for a promotional price that was due to be available until October 1, with the potential threat of litigation facing users that didn’t pay the fee.

Members of the open source community warned SCO last month in an open letter they would initiate civil action under anti-fraud and consumer protection statutes.

Reports, meanwhile, said SCO called off its invoicing program in case it lost its $3 billion legal action with IBM, in which case it could be found guilty of mail fraud. Mail fraud in the US is a relatively serious offense

SCO now claims the licensing program, launched in July, was a success although it refused to say which organizations or how many had taken out licenses.

Instead, it intends to provide further details during its fourth-quarter financial briefing on December 5, the spokesperson said.

Separately, SCO has received $50 million in a private investment led by BayStar Capital. The injection gives SCO a cash position of approximately $61 million, significantly enhancing its overall financial strength the company said.

The money will fund Unix and SCOx web services, strategic partnerships and Unix IP claims.

BayStar attributed its investment to SCO’s claimed ownership of Unix and what it called an aggressive and seasoned management team focussed on generating profitable growth. BayStar will own an aggregate of approximately 2,953,000 shares of SCO common stock representing 17.5% of the company’s outstanding shares.

This article was based on material originally published by ComputerWire.