Oracle enlists private dick to sniff out HP boss

Apotheker is trying to prevent them serving the subpoena,

thus avoid appearing in court at all. Pleading the 5th only protects you from self-incrimination in LEGAL proceedings. If you are the CEO of a company that's not the sort of thing you want to be saying in court unless you are facing a long stay in The Big House. Saying it repeatedly is likely to cost you customers. The other part of the problem is that if Apotheker truthfully answers the question with "I don't know and was unaware of the actions until after the fact" (not asserting it is true, but even if you assume it to be true to explore a particular legal avenue) once he has answered that question, he is compelled to answer any other question put to him by the Oracle attorneys. There might be other dirt on Apotheker that is largely irrelevant to the case or his performance as CEO of HP but which might slip into the public eye once he is on the stand.

The point of the SAP quote is that many people (SAP, HP, El Reg, and me) think Ellison is using the courts to intimidate HP because he doesn't like what they did to his golfing bud and not because of anything he actually did, or anything he knows. Granted right now I don't have a lot of respect for HP as a company, but I would like them to have the chance to once again become the company I once respected. I see no such option for Ellison and Oracle since Ellison IS Oracle, much like Jobs IS Mac.