Federal judge upholds gutting of SCO's lawsuit against IBM

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Posted: 10:33 AM- The SCO Group's stock tanked Thursday after a federal judge upheld the gutting the Utah software company's $5 billion, Linux-related case against IBM.

The Lindon software company's stock plummeted 11 percent, to $2.13 per share, at midday on the Nasdaq stock exchange - one of its lowest prices since before SCO filed its suit against Big Blue in 2003.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball upheld a June decision by federal Magistrate Brooke Wells. In her ruling, Wells essentially gutted SCO's copyright and contract lawsuit by striking two thirds of its allegations against IBM.

So far today, SCO has refused any comment on Kimball's ruling. It also has refused to discuss whether it has laid off a sizeable portion of its workforce over the past couple months.