Oracle Sues Google Over Android

[Matthew Gillen]

On 08/17/2010 09:57 AM, Jack Coats wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 8:49 AM, Matthew Gillen <me-5yx05kfkO/aqeI1yJSURBw at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>> On the other hand, it's worth noting that IBM, Redhat, Novell and others
>> weathered just that kind of storm with the whole SCO mess.
>>
>> So I guess it boils down to whether Google feels this is a threat to their
>> core business.  The good part about the SCO fiasco was that there were some
>> deep-pocket companies whose core business was threatened, so they felt the
>> need to stand up and get this resolved.
>>
>> Matt
> 
> 
> Comparing SCO to Oracle is a bit strange.  SCO was doing it to try to stay
> alive (and apparently it was to mainly feed lawyers).  Oracle has additional
> business models that actually generate positive cash flow.
> 
> But I understand the tempting comparison.

The primary comparison I was trying to make wasn't necessarily comparing
Oracle to SCO, but rather between Google and the line-up of SCO's opponents.
SCO brought the lawsuits in response to IBM et al not paying royalty fees for
something SCO claimed to own copyright on.  Oracle is doing something very
similar, although the fees in question are patent-licensing fees.  The
defendants in the SCO cases decided it was worth the long drawn-out court
battle to put SCO's nonsense to rest.  I'm hoping Google will have the same
fortitude.

SCO lost because it turned out they didn't have the ownership of the
copyrights after all.  Oracle could lose in a similar manner if the patents in
question are invalidated.  But it requires Google to stand up and not just pay
the fees.

Matt