The licensees included Computer Associates, a developer of software solutions for IT infrastructure management, natural gas supplier Questar and manufacturer Leggett and Platt. The three companies join Web hosting provider EV1Servers (ev1servers.net), who SCO revealed on Monday had signed up for the IP license for Linux.

Questar told IDG News Service that its decision was based on "simple economics." Chad Jones, a spokeman for the company, said the cost of licensing was small making it in the company's interest to settle rather than litigate. EV1Servers also cited financial factors for its decision to license, saying that the company would be best off protecting its customers from the high costs of potential litigation.

According to the report, SCO says it has signed up between 10 and 50 IP licenses for Linux customers.

The SCO Group, based in Utah, continues to contend that UNIX code in the Linux kernel violates its intellectual property rights. The company has launched several lawsuits and warnings to companies and individual end-users running Linux, offering licenses in order to avoid possible legal action.

SCO also announced on Wednesday its first lawsuits against individual end users of Linux, a threat it has made in recent months. Autozone and DaimlerChrysler were named as the two defendants.