Oracle suing Google over Android

[jrmckins]

Oracle sues Google for patent infringement - Technology & science - Tech and gadgets - msnbc.com

 

[adrynalyne]

A couple thoughts:

So, Oracle is suing Google because they coded in java? Good luck on that one.

I think its more like Oracle is upset because Android JIT compiler blows away Sun's.

 

[killadanny]

Oracle who?

 

[Valka]

A couple thoughts:

So, Oracle is suing Google because they coded in java? Good luck on that one.

I think its more like Oracle is upset because Android JIT compiler blows away Sun's.

Agreed. The article isn't specific on violations but I can't imagine any valid basis. What's next, Microsoft suits since they're using linux?

 

[ckelly33]

Oracle who?

You know, the Oracle....the black lady from the Matrix?

 

[killadanny]

You know, the Oracle....the black lady from the Matrix?

Was leaning towards Harry Potter...anyway, they got guts, but Google will never let anything happen to their baby, and neither will I!

 

[euph_22]

Agreed. The article isn't specific on violations but I can't imagine any valid basis. What's next, Microsoft suits since they're using linux?

I'm not sure if you made a hilarious sarcasm, or a apt analysis of Microsoft's business model.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

Wow, this just got real....... I knew this was coming back in 2007.

Read this article from 2007: Sun's worried that Google Android could fracture Java | Underexposed - CNET News

Sun was very worried about Java being forked. Google was pretty much unrepentant

Google unrepentant
Google didn't adopt a terribly conciliatory tone in its response, arguing that when it comes to Java fragmentation, Android is the solution, not the problem.

And remember folks. If we look back in our history books, Sun sued Microsoft 10 years ago when Microsoft tried to fork Java with Visual J++. Guess who won,... Of course, it was Sun Microsystem.

Since Oracle now owns all of Sun's portfolio patents, it just got interesting.

We should also note that Larry Ellison is good buddies with Steve Jobs. They're like Silicon Valley bosom buddies. I wonder if there was any input from Cupertino.

Here is the actual complaint:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35810897/Oracle-Google-Complaint

David Boies is one of the lead attorney for Oracle on this legal battle. This is getting interesting. I can see where this is going.

 

[LoyalServant]

David Boies is one of the lead attorney for Oracle on this legal battle. This is getting interesting. I can see where this is going.

Ohhh....no not him.
SCO anyone?

People hate SCO because of these same lawyers and it destroyed any possible business they had... and Boies has lost SO much money on SCO I bet he is at least assured a paycheck now... until the open source community cried foul and starts killing their business too.

Why do I get the impression that Boies is after open source stuff?
I would not be surprised if he went to Oracle offering his services.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

Well, I read some more of this and this blog post from 2007, yes, 2007, explains why Oracle has a solid case:
Stefano’s Linotype Dalvik: how Google routed around Sun’s IP-based licensing restrictions on Java ME

Today Google released the Android code and I took a serious look at its internals… and found the solution for the licensing problem. It’s called Dalvik and it’s the new name of Sun’s worst nightmares.

Dalvik is a virtual machine, just like Java’s or .NET’s, but it’s Google’s own and they’re making it open source without having to ask permission to anyone (well, for now, in the future expect a shit-load of IP-related lawsuits on this, especially since Sun and Microsoft signed a cross-IP licensing agreement on exactly such virtual machines technologies years ago… but don’t forget IBM who has been writing emulation code for mainframes since the beginning of time).

But Android’s programs are written in Java, using Java-oriented IDEs (it also comes with an Eclipse plugin)… it just doesn’t compile the java code into java bytecode but (ops, Sun didn’t see this one coming) into Dalvik bytecode.

So, Android uses the syntax of the Java platform (the Java “language”, if you wish, which is enough to make java programmers feel at home and IDEs to support the editing smoothly) and the java SE class library but not the Java bytecode or the Java virtual machine to execute it on the phone (and, note, Android’s implementation of the Java SE class library is, indeed, Apache Harmony’s!)

The trick is that Google doesn’t claim that Android is a Java platform, although it can run some programs written with the Java language and against some derived version of the Java class library. Sun could prevent this if they had a patent on the standard class library, but they don’t and, even if they did, I strongly doubt it would be enforceable since Android doesn’t claim to be compatible (and in fact, could very well claim that their subset/superset is an innovation on the existing patent and challenge Sun’s position).

I also read this comment on another blog:

Apparently you still need to license mobile JVMs from Sun (and now Oracle) and what Google did was completely get around the licensing by claiming that they don't have a JVM, they have DALVIK VM, which isn't Java compatible, so it isn't really a Java platform.

In essence "Do no Evil" Google, tried to game their way around the license requirements. The fight has been going on behind the scene long before Oracle bought Sun. Now Oracle is suing with anything they can. to try to re-establish control over Java.