Oracle wants its pound of flesh
August 16, 2010 4 Comments
Oracle has sued Google for intentional infringement of its patents over Java. This is the start of a new series of conflicts between the Technology giants over patents. I wont be writing on any technical details of the issue since internet has a lot of articles describing it in great deal.
I want to focus on the more ethical question whether Oracle should sue Google for using Java in its Android ..
Some people feel Oracle is out in the market to make money and there is nothing wrong in it trying to earn money out of the patents of Sun. On the other hand there are puritans who find it unethical for Oracle for trying to earn money out of Java, which is widely respected Open Source language.
I am myself an avid Open source enthusiast and am hurt by the actions of Oracle. But the harsh reality is that any attempts by Oracle to monetize its patents even if unfortunately are inside legal framework. It can be seen in the backdrop of capitalism and socialism. These corporates operate with profit motive. So it is a continuing struggle between the two kind of forces. One who want to earn only profit and the other for whom the contributing and sharing with the community is more important.
The biggest gainer of this controversy is Google , which has become darling of Open Source community overnight. Being an open source supporter I hope Android doesn’t suffer because of this.
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About Varun Mittal
It is all about money.. Actually none of them is as pure and innocent as they claim. The fact is Oracle wants a pie of all the upcoming markets and will do anything to get it. I believe like in EU , software patents should be invalidated all over the world. Some of the patents in question are so basic in nature and just because of the capitalist DNA of hording everything , they were awarded and are now fought upon.
I agree that if Google used something from java codes it should give proper credits and contribute it back to community. I believe the governments should step in, cast away the pressures exerted by big mnc’s and declare such impediments to innovation and potential improvement agents of the world..
Well I am not happy with the situation either, But I read somewhere that Google has used java’s codes for their own runtime. Android could have used java as other brands are using. Or they could have used totally their own technology. There is openjdk and opengre, but in mobile field oracle wants to keep things under control, Mobile and cloud are areas where Oracle wants to protect and grow Java licensing — yet both are slipping into others’ hands that Google.
This is just like if Adobe sues any growing opensource flash implementation. Its a tragedy that these big firms are acting childishly. Profit is the only motive. why not Oracle provide a fair market, where there is competition on what is best in price as well quality, let the users decide.
Dalvik (android’s java runtime) was superior in some cases and this pinched oracle.
Well it is an unsaid trick of trade that sue only when the infringing hen becomes fat enough to be slaughtered , u sue …till then u keep quiet…
Money making and open source are both indispensable … the issue currently is that Oracle at the time of acquiring Sun assured to Open Source Community and Regulators that it will not create problems for Java, My SQL and other open source products which flourished under Sun
This double standard behavior of Oracle is what all open Source enthusiast are seething at ….
If it were not for the profit side of technology, we wouldn’t have it. It’s easy to promote and advocate open source now that it’s well established, but imagine where we would be today if no one could make money selling software 30 years ago.
I’m not happy about the situation either. Oracle could have filed its lawsuit when the Android was first introduced instead of waiting all this time. Typical.