Novell backed by Microsoft next?

Here's the worry. If I've understood the case correctly, Microsoft were helping to finance SCO's case by paying them licencing fees? Now in the last year or so, M$ have also been cosying up to Novell, with agreements over payments and interoperability. Now that Novell clearly own the copyrights to Unix, whats to stop M$ backing Novell in a joint extortion attack on the Linux community, especially given M$ recent patent claim statements?