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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