back to article Oracle, Google limber up for round two in their Android Java bout

Oracle has launched an appeal after its legal action over the use of Java in Google's Android operating system fell flat. Not to be outdone, Google is also appealing against part of the trial's outcome. Larry Ellison's database company yesterday filed notice of its plan to appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal …

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  1. Bob Vistakin
    Facepalm

    How to win friends and influence people

    Is this the same Oracle that's desperate for developers now their dithering CEO has U turned once again and for the moment reckons their crappy cloud offering is something other than a late desperate "me too" version of everyone else's, with it's only distinguishing feature being it costing ten times more?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      @Bob

      According to an Oracle spokesman I never spoke with this isn't about money but to protect the developers from the influences of the evil empire. Makes perfect sense, no?

  2. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Facepalm

    "Business decisions" and other displacement activities of the 21st century

    So Larry, how is Java 8 coming along? Features being dropped? Seriously falling behind the curve? Recent security holes going unfixed? People looking at alternative languages? Right .... let's .... feed those lawyers.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Business decisions" and other displacement activities of the 21st century

      "Right .... let's .... feed those lawyers."

      To the lions or the crocodiles?

  3. Paul E

    Hopefully

    the extra mile that Judge Alsup went to to try and make his verdict appeal proof will pay off.

    1. Mad Chaz

      Re: Hopefully

      I don't believe for a second that the lawers won't find some way to make the appeal happen, but wouldn't that be funny?

      "But mister judge, we won't get payed if you say we can't appeal"

      "And this is my problem how?"

      1. Paul E

        Re: Hopefully

        My point was not that his judgement would stop oracle appealing as they almost had to to try and save face but that he built the decision in such a way that it would be very hard to turn over on appeal. hence all the bits about explaining clearly the theory behind and API knowing that it would be put in front of appeal judges who had less computer knowledge than he has.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I don't get it ...

    Doesn't US Tort Law require the plaintiff to show material harm was caused by the actions of the opposing party?

    Oracle is entirely absent from the mobile device market. Rumor has it that they tried to build something, and failed miserably at it. So it's not like Google's copying of 9 lines of Java code somehow destroyed Oracle's mobile device market share and associated revenue, because there is none to begin with.

    What is the basis for Oracle's claim to USD $2 Billion (or whatever it is) in damages from Google?

    It looks like Larry wants to retroactively rewrite US Copyright Law by claiming that API's are copyrightable. Even if the Appeals Court agrees with this theory (which is very doubtful), how can it apply retroactively?

    1. Gerard Krupa

      Re: I don't get it ...

      The judge said it himself "To accept Oracle's claim would be to allow anyone to copyright one version of code to carry out a system of commands and thereby bar all others from writing their own different versions to carry out all or part of the same commands"

      Setting such a precedent would set them up nicely for an offensive against PostgreSQL, RedHat (and FuseSource), VMWare, IBM and others in an attempt to narrow down the entire Java Enterprise ecosystem to just WLS and RAC (maybe GlassFish and MySQL too if they're feeling generous to the FOSS contingent).

  5. Shao

    A shame

    Oracle had every opportunity to corner the mobile market in much the same way it dominated the Linux market with Unbreakable Linux sold on the basis that Oracle supported it all the way down to the operating system.

    All Oracle needed to do was port its Oracle Lite database to Android and over time release a version of Unbreakable Android and it would have a fair share of the market.

    More importantly, it would assist in supporting making Android the viable business platform.

    But it got greedy.

    Everything Oracle is doing is about greed and SMEs are moving away in droves.

  6. Goat Jam
    Holmes

    So, I take it that Google are not part of the "java community" that Oracle has been pleading with to help them "move Java forward" then.

    1. Adam Azarchs
      Meh

      If not Google...

      then who, exactly? Outside of academia, you've got IBM's WebSphere toolchain, and you've got Google's Web Toolkit and Android. I can't think of any other major players building platforms on Java, and let's be honest: a language without a platform isn't useful.

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