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Tag: Sun Microsystems

  • US Supreme Court Sides With Google Over Oracle

    US Supreme Court Sides With Google Over Oracle

    The US Supreme Court has handed Google a decisive victory in its decade-long battle with Oracle over the Android operating system (OS).

    Google made the decision early on to make Android compatible with the Java programming language and libraries. The decision was a smart move, since Java is one of the most popular programming languages, and that popularity helped jumpstart Android’s application ecosystem.

    Sun Microsystems, the original owner of Java, was supportive of Google’s decision. That changed, however, once Oracle bought Sun and the rights to Java. Oracle immediately launched legal action against Google, claiming it illegally copied the Java application programming interfaces (API).

    Google responded by claiming (correctly) that programmers use other companies’ APIs all the time to ensure their software is compatible with other software and services. As a result, Google argued that a win for Oracle would have severely damaging repercussions for the entire software development industry.

    Major companies and organizations backed Google in the fight, highlighting the existential threat to the software development community that Oracle’s case posed. If Oracle won, everything from everyday software to the Linux operating system could be under threat.

    After a decade of court battles, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Google, 6-2. In writing or the majority, Justice Stephen G. Breyer noted the following:

    In reviewing that decision, we assume, for argument’s sake, that the material was copyrightable. But we hold that the copying here at issue nonetheless constituted a fair use. Hence, Google’s copying did not violate the copyright law.

    The win is good news for Google, and even better news for the software industry.

  • Oracle Behind Spate of Google Antitrust Lawsuits

    Oracle Behind Spate of Google Antitrust Lawsuits

    Google is under siege as it faces multiple lawsuits from the DOJ and coalitions of states, a situation it may have Oracle to thank for.

    Oracle and Google have been locked in a legal battle since the former bought Sun Microsystems and the Java platform. When Google developed its Android mobile operating systems (OS), it intentionally made Android compatible with the Java libraries.

    Google made the decision in an effort to jumpstart Android’s popularity by piggybacking on one of the most popular programming languages in history. The thinking was that programmers would welcome using a programming language they were already proficient in, as opposed to developing for the iPhone which required learning Objective-C, a language rarely used outside of Apple’s ecosystem.

    At the time, the move was met with enthusiasm, including from Sun Microsystems. CEO Jonathan Schwartz even offered his personal congratulations:

    “I just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of others from Sun in offering my heartfelt congratulations to Google on the announcement of their new Java/Linux phone platform, Android. Congratulations!

    Once Oracle purchased Sun Microsystems three years later, in 2010, the tune immediately changed. Oracle sued Google for infringing on Java copyrights the company now controlled. The case has continued for the past decade, with both sides chalking up victories, and ultimately leading to arguments before the Supreme Court in October. The ramifications of the case could have far-reaching consequences for the software and tech industry.

    It appears, however, that Oracle is simultaneously fighting a completely different battle with Google, helping push regulators toward the current antirust cases.

    According to Bloomberg, Oracle sent officials in at least twelve of the states currently suing Google a “black box” presentation that outlined Google’s data privacy practices. Specifically, the presentation showed how Google tracked users’ data, including their location, even when the users’ Android phones were not being used.

    Ken Glueck, Oracle’s top Washington lobbyist and the man behind the antitrust campaign against Google, was thrilled with the action the states were taking.

    “I couldn’t be happier,” said Glueck told Bloomberg. “As far as I can tell, there are more states suing Google than there are states.”

    Obviously, any campaign on Oracle’s part was not the sole motivating factor. Google was already under investigation by some individual states, and the company had been under fire for years over its privacy and monopoly practices. Many believed a major lawsuit was inevitable.

    Nonetheless, it’s clear that regulators and investigators had an ally in Oracle, and the company may have provided just the push some of those regulators and investigators needed to move forward.

  • Oracle Says It’s Making Progress On Java Security

    Oracle Says It’s Making Progress On Java Security

    Java became somewhat of a punching bag in the security researcher community earlier this year after numerous vulnerabilities were found in the software. After what must have been an embarrassing few months, Oracle announced in June that it would make Java security a priority going forward. So, how’s that working out for them?

    InfoWorld reports that Oracle officials spoke on Java security in late September at the JavaOne technical conference in San Francisco. They said that the main problem with Java security is that most of the vulnerabilities existed long before Oracle purchased Sun Microsystems, and that they’re having to go back and fix decade old problems. It also didn’t help that Java, when under the care of Sun, didn’t receive the kind of security support or funding that Oracle is now pumping into it.

    Of course, the blame can’t fall all on Sun. Oracle’s Vice President of Cloud Applications and Java EE, Cameron Purdy, said that some of the blame falls on Oracle for not building a Java security team fast enough after his company acquired Java in 2010.

    Sun and Oracle may have made some mistakes in keeping Java secure, but the blame for poor Java security ultimately falls on users. Oracle notes that it’s putting out security updates, but it’s up to the user to update to the latest version of Java. If they don’t upgrade, it’s not Oracle’s fault if a hacker uses an exploit to take over their machine.

    With its renewed focus on security, Oracle seems to have gained the favor of developers. One such developer told InfoWorld that Oracle had made a lot of progress over the past year in the field. That progress came in the form of Oracle announcing that it would put out four annual security fixes for Java instead of three. It will also work to release emergency updates whenever a zero-day exploit rears its ugly head.

    [Image: Java]

  • Google’s Reponse to the Oracle Suit

    As you may have read, Google is being sued by Oracle, who claims Google is infringing on several patents it holds, related to Java. These patents came to Oracle through its recent acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

    "In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s Java-related intellectual property," said Oracle spokesperson Karen Tillman. "This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies for their infringement."

    TechCrunch obtained the following statment from Google on the matter:

    "We are disappointed Oracle has chosen to attack both Google and the open-source Java community with this baseless lawsuit. The open-source Java community goes beyond any one corporation and works every day to make the web a better place. We will strongly defend open-source standards and will continue to work with the industry to develop the Android platform."

    Kara Swisher has the entire complaint in a Scribd document:

    FINAL Complaint

    The complaint deals with a total of seven patents. Jason Kincaid notes that Sun Microsystems was able to get $1.6 billion out of Microsoft related to patent disputes and antitrust issues.

  • Oracle’s Sun Microsystems Acquisition Approved by EU

    Update: The European Commission has reportedly approved Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Now the deal only needs approval from Chinese and Russian regulators.

    Original Article:     Oracle is acquiring Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion in cash at a rate of $9.50 per share in cash.

    Safra Catz"We expect this acquisition to be accretive to Oracle’s earnings by at least 15 cents on a non-GAAP basis in the first full year after closing," Oracle President Safra Catz said in a statement. "We estimate that the acquired business will contribute over $1.5 billion to Oracle’s non-GAAP operating profit in the first year, increasing to over $2 billion in the second year. This would make the Sun acquisition more profitable in per share contribution in the first year than we had planned for the acquisitions of BEA, PeopleSoft and Siebel combined."

    The two companies have long been partners – for over 20 years as Sun Chairman Scott McNealy pointed out. And now Oracle will own Java and Solaris.

    Jonathan Schwartz"This is a fantastic day for Sun’s customers, developers, partners and employees across the globe, joining forces with the global leader in enterprise software to drive innovation and value across every aspect of the technology marketplace," said Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz.

    "From the Java platform touching nearly every business system on earth, powering billions of consumers on mobile handsets and consumer electronics, to the convergence of storage, networking and computing driven by the Solaris operating system and Sun’s SPARC and x64 systems," he added. "Together with Oracle, we’ll drive the innovation pipeline to create compelling value to our customer base and the marketplace."

    The acquisition is expected to close sometime this summer. Sun’s board of directors has unanimously approved it.