Memo from Oracle: let's sue our way to world dominationBy Dennis Howlett | August 13, 2010, 7:02am PDT

We all thought Java was open source. Think again. Joel West points out that :

Throughout its lifespan, Sun always had a schizophrenic view of open standards. Some of the things it did were very open, like giving away specs and/or implementations of things like RPC and NFS. Some of the things were traditional proprietary licensing models — akin to Microsoft or Intel — with SPARC chips, Solaris and the like.

On the other hand, Sun’s use of open source was always semi-open, as I noted in 2003 in my most oft-cited open source paper. In fact, Sonali Shah (now of U. Washington) coined the term “gated source” to refer to Sun’s use of open source-like approaches inside an extranet during the past 15 years or so.

Oracle’s patent suit against Google seems to have taken many by surprise. I’m neither surprised nor stunned. If anything, I am surprised it has taken Oracle this long to saddle up its lawyers.

It now seems clear that Oracle’s attempt to dominate the enterprise world is taking two carefully calculated paths: PR and the courtroom. It doesn’t matter whether Oracle’s claims are spurious or otherwise. Oracle is positioning itself as the only software vendor I know that plans to sue its way to success. That is a guaranteed road to ruin. Customers will be looking at this and wondering: ‘Are we next?’

Larry Dignan suggests:

…if you zoom out a bit you see where this is headed. Apple’s HTC lawsuit has a heavy dose of Android in it. Oracle is suing Google over the Java in Android. In journalism, there’s a saying that three makes a trend. Rest assured there will be another patent suit lobbed at Android from various parties. Android is on a tear, but Google may wind up licensing some patents along the way.

From www.zdnet.com/blog/howlett/memo-from-oracle-lets-sue-our-way-to-world-domination/2384?tag=mantle_skin;content 1 10 February 2011

What will happen with Oracle and Google? For starters, Oracle can play the courtroom game well—see Oracle vs. SAP/TomorrowNow for instance. Google could fight, but it may be far more expedient to just license the patents. Notice how quickly the Microsoft-Salesforce.com patent scrum was settledeven though Marc Benioff called the software giant a thug. Assuming Oracle’s points are valid, Google may just pay up and move along.

I’d go much further but before doing so let’s back up a touch.

Google is certainly a Big Dog in the software business but it has made its bones on the presumption that software is (pretty much) free to use. At least at the consumer level. It makes a play at the enterprise with Google Apps and now with Android. It doesn’t take too much imagination to realize that pressured CXOs might be forgiven for thinking that if they can divest themselves of office productivity applications at minimal run on cost then what next?

Speaking with open source advocate Simon Wardley [http://twitter.com/swardley], his opinion comes in two parts:

1. This is part of the normal banter between interested parties and what we’re seeing is the outcome of talks that broke down

2. Oracle is readying itself to become a PaaS play, doesn’t have a current offering and is therefore testing the waters to see if it can make Java - its cornerstone - stand up as a proprietary offering.

Simon asserts: “This has to be a concern - customers are heavily reliant upon Java which is taught widely in teaching institutions. The good news is that it will encourage the development of open source platform stacks and that has to be a good thing.”

If Simon is correct and Oracle wins then it brings into question whether there will be more lawsuits aimed at the likes of Springsource, VMWare and even Microsoft itself on the basis of whatever Java it has in Azure. Mary-Jo Foley thinks Microsoft must be rubbing its hands with glee:

Even though the Redmondians have no love for Oracle and consider the company one of Microsoft’s foremost competitors, any attack on Google is no doubt a plus in Microsoft execs’ eyes. Oracle’s move gives Windows Phone 7 more air cover. Microsoft likely will benefit from the fallout of the suit to some degree as developers and customers wonder and worry about the fate of Android-based phones. The Oracle vs. Google lawsuit also may boost the Microsoft .Net to a degree, as .Net’s No. 1 rival is Java.

In back channel conversations, colleagues are asking: what about IBM and SAP? These are good questions and I can only imagine that lawyers at both companies are carefully From www.zdnet.com/blog/howlett/memo-from-oracle-lets-sue-our-way-to-world-domination/2384?tag=mantle_skin;content 2 10 February 2011

examining their potential exposure. When Oracle was tilting at Sun, Vishal Sikka, SAP board member and CTO warned:

To ensure the continued role of Java in driving economic growth, we believe it is essential to transition the stewardship of the language and platform into an authentically open body that is not dominated by an individual corporation. Java should be free of any encumbrances to permit fair competition between compatible implementations for the benefit of customers. By preserving the integrity of Java, the IT industry can ensure a vibrant developer community and continued innovation for enterprise software customers. This ensures the continued global economic success brought about through open innovation.

Will SAP be next in the cross hairs?

It concerns me that Karen Tillman, head of Oracle PR is positioned as point on this. Given the potential for this lawsuit to represent a ‘pebble in the pond’ scenario, surely Oracle board members should be stating a position?

More broadly, Oracle’s persistent use of the legal hammer must be of concern to everyone in the IT industry and customers alike. Sure, the company has deep pockets but is this the future of IT business? Have we reached a point where developers might fear the lines of code they write in case they trip up over someone’s patent/copyright claim? And what does this mean for buyers that customize using Java? Could it mean that Oracle comes knocking on their door looking for a financial slice of the pie?

The usual course of IT lawsuits ends up with one company paying another. I have to wonder whether this case might be one of the very few that runs its course. Google can afford it, so can Oracle. Let the games begin.

Dennis Howlett has been providing comment and analysis on enterprise software since 1991.

BiographyDennis HowlettDennis Howlett has been providing comment and analysis on enterprise software since 1991 in a variety of European trade and professional journals including CFO Magazine, The Economist and Information Week. Today, apart from being a full time blogger on innovation for professional services organisations, he is a founding member of Enterprise Irregulars and an investor in a European start-up. Prior to, Dennis was technology and tax partner in a British firm of Chartered Accountants for 10 years. Prior to that held various senior finance roles across a broad range of industries.

From www.zdnet.com/blog/howlett/memo-from-oracle-lets-sue-our-way-to-world-domination/2384?tag=mantle_skin;content 3 10 February 2011

Microsoft could be a winner in Oracle's patent attack over JavaBy Mary Jo Foley | August 13, 2010, 6:27am PDT

I’d think there could be a whole lot of celebrating going on in Redmond today, the day after Oracle announced it is suing Google over alleged patent infringements involving Java in the Android mobile operating system.

Even though the Redmondians have no love for Oracle and consider the company one of Microsoft’s foremost competitors, any attack on Google is no doubt a plus in Microsoft execs’ eyes. Oracle’s move gives Windows Phone 7 more air cover. Microsoft likely will benefit from the fallout of the suit to some degree as developers and customers wonder and worry about the fate of Android-based phones. The Oracle vs. Google lawsuit also may boost the Microsoft .Net to a degree, as .Net’s No. 1 rival is Java. I’ve seen a couple of tweets from individuals saying Oracle’s move may drive them, in disgust, to .Net.

The August 12 Oracle lawsuit is not without historical precedent. Sun sued Microsoft in 1997 over alleged Java patent infringements, and after much wrangling, the two settled and Microsoft paid Sun $1 billion plus. Microsoft ended up dropping Java and developing its own Java-like C# language. Another Microsoft angle: Oracle has hired “Microsoft slayer” David Boies — the lawyer who represented the Department of Justice in Microsoft’s U.S. antitrust trial a decade ago — to handle its Java complaint.

On Twitter, a number of folks are tweeting about the Microsoft-related impacts and parallels of the Oracle Java suit. Here are a few of the 140-character observations that gave me food for thought:

@clemensv Larry: “So what’s the best deal the Sun dudes ever made with Java?” Drones: “Sue Microsoft and get $1.6bln?” Larry: “Oh, really?”  (Vasters is a :Principal Protocol Surgeon, Windows Azure AppFabric Service Bus” these days.)

@corewarrior: So whats up with Oracle’s decision to go after Google over Java? It set Java back years when Sun made the same move against Microsoft! #java

From www. www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-could-be-a-winner-in-oracles-patent-attack-over-java/7088 4 10 February 2011

@jhammond @johnrrymer And why would Microsoft, Nokia, Intel be willing to invest in Mobile Java for WinPhone, Meego after this?

@brainewave Is Java the most litigated software? Sun, Kodak, Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Google; who hasn’t sued someone over it? http://bit.ly/9gQn05

@silbybsd Go Oracle / Sun! You forced Microsoft to abandon Java, maybe you can get Google to do the same!

@opusmarta So what now…? Boycott #Oracle in an attempt to save #Java, or give in to #Microsoft …or maybe take up fishing.

Do you see any other ways Microsoft could end up benefiting directly or indirectly from the Oracle suit over Android? Anyone see any reasons the suit might end up hurting the Softies?

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of

Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

BiographyMary-Jo FoleyMary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

From www. www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-could-be-a-winner-in-oracles-patent-attack-over-java/7088 5 10 February 2011

Oracle-Google suit challenges open source establishment

By Dana Blankenhorn | August 13, 2010, 7:01am PDT

The idea of a patent commons is members don’t sue one another over technology covered by the common pool.

The idea of open source is we drop our legal swords and don’t go to war with one another after exchanging precious bodily fluids.

What made Java a universal technology was the assumption it was covered by a patent non-aggression pact, starting with the Java Community Process, launched in 2002. It has been covered by the GPL since 2006.

Oracle has just blown all that up, suing Google for its use of Java in Android, a Linux distro. (One of the Oracle lawyers is our old friend David Boies, so I guess Oracle and Google can’t be gay-married anymore.)

Florian Mueller, who inveighed against the Oracle acquisition of Sun (based on mySQL), is in full I-told-you-so mode. This is a direct attack on open source, he writes. Oracle seems to have made no effort to come to an agreement before dropping its legal bomb. It’s a direct blow against the very idea of open standards.

It’s also an attack on two specific institutions, the Open Invention Network and OpenForum Europe. (Simon Phipps agrees about OIN.) On OIN, Mueller writes:

Both Oracle and Google are OIN licensees, so in theory there is a non-aggression pact in place between them, but everyone can see that Oracle sues Google anyway because the OIN’s scope of protection is too narrow.

From www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/oracle-google-suit-challenges-open-source-establishment/7142?tag=mantle_skin;content 6 10 February 2011

There’s more. Open source luminaries Carlo Piana and Eben Moglen both supported Oracle’s takeover of Sun, saying it would be good for open source.

So where are those pro-Oracle FOSS advocates now? Will they come out unequivocally in support of Google and condemn Oracle’s action? Will they admit that it was a bad idea to let Oracle acquire Sun in the first place? Will they concede that they were wrong when they said Oracle would be a good owner of those patents? Will the SFLC and the Public Patent Foundation now lend pro-bono legal support to Google in order to get those Java patents invalidated before they do more damage?

Or will they keep quiet due to a conflict of interests and only talk about a bogeyman and propose fake solutions such as the OIN in order to distract the community from the real problems?

Personally I don’t think this is a suit meant for trial. I suspect Oracle wants what Microsoft got through its Novell deal, a cross-license with an unspecified amount of cash behind it so can assert its authority. (Ironically, Miguel de Icaza now says Google might be in better legal shape with Microsoft technology.)

In a rational world, Oracle might get just that. What open source has proven, conclusively, is that agreements and cooperation can be more profitable than legal war.

This is not always a rational world.

A Google-Oracle compromise might be good business, but it would damage Google’s credibility, which remains a prime asset. It would make Google look dirty, which may be Ellison’s point. It would make open source look like just an armistice between big legal teams, another happy thought for someone with billions in the bank.

But if open source is not to become just another scam, Google needs to hang tough here. If you’re to not be evil, you have to be willing to confront evil.

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

BiographyDana BlankenhornDana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for nearly 25 years and has covered the online world professionally since 1985. He founded the Interactive Age Daily for CMP Media, and has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age's "NetMarketing" supplement, and dozens of other publications over the years.

From www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/oracle-google-suit-challenges-open-source-establishment/7142?tag=mantle_skin;content 7 10 February 2011

Oracle vs. Google over Java: Android lawsuits may begin to pile upBy Larry Dignan | August 13, 2010, 4:41am PDT

Oracle’s lawsuit against Google for Java patent infringement highlights how Android is going to become a big target in court.

Take Oracle’s lawsuit (statement [http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Oracle-Files-Complaint-Against-Google-for-Patent-and-Copyright-Infringement-NASDAQ-ORCL-1304265.htm]), which alleges that Google developed Android and “directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s Java-related intellectual property,” and couple it with Apple’s court battle with HTC and it’s clear the legal armies are amassing against Android. And why not? Android has pretty much been unstoppable and once something gets critical mass it only stands to reason that there will be a fine-tooth patent comb going through the mobile operating system’s code.

In it’s complaint, embedded below via CNet News, Oracle outlines the following:

Google’s Android competes with Oracle America’s Java as an operating system software platform for cellular telephones and other mobile devices.  The Android operating system software “stack” consists of Java applications running on a Java-based object-oriented application framework, and core libraries running on a “Dalvik” virtual machine (VM) that features just-in-time (JIT) compilation.  Google actively distributes Android (including without limitation the Dalvik VM and the Android software development kit) and promotes its use by manufacturers of products and applications. Android (including without limitation the Dalvik VM and the Android software  development kit) and devices that operate Android infringe one or more claims of each of United States Patents Nos. 6,125,447; 6,192,476; 5,966,702; 7,426,720; RE38,104; 6,910,205; and 6,061,520.

Oracle goes on to say that Google knew of Sun’s patents since 2005 or so and the search giant hired a bevy of Sun engineers.

8 10 February 2011From www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/oracle-vs-google-over-java-android-lawsuits-may-begin-to-pile-up/38019

There are a few key threads to note about Oracle’s suit. When Oracle first bought Sun it seemed fairly obvious that Java played a big role. Today, Oracle’s purchase of Sun is portrayed as a way to deliver integrated hardware-software systems. However, Oracle acquired Sun’s vast intellectual property portfolio. With Java, Oracle has the language the underpins its enterprise applications and middleware—not to mention IBM’s. It only stands to reason that Oracle would monetize Java via lawsuits and patents. In that regard, Oracle’s Android suit makes perfect sense.

Christopher Dawson also highlights how Oracle wants a piece of the mobile pie.

There are serious financial incentives to file IP-related lawsuits. When a big fish sues a bigger fish over intellectual property rights that aren’t clearcut, there has to be a bigger picture, a corporate strategy that makes the financial and PR risks worth the potential gain. In this case, it’s mobile computing which, in case you haven’t noticed, is the future of both consumer and, in many ways, enterprise computing. Yeah, I’d say there’s an incentive here.

However, if you zoom out a bit you see where this is headed. Apple’s HTC lawsuit has a heavy dose of Android in it. Oracle is suing Google over the Java in Android. In journalism, there’s a saying that three makes a trend. Rest assured there will be another patent suit lobbed at Android from various parties. Android is on a tear, but Google may wind up licensing some patents along the way.

What will happen with Oracle and Google? For starters, Oracle can play the courtroom game well—see Oracle vs. SAP/TomorrowNow for instance. Google could fight, but it may be far more expedient to just license the patents. Notice how quickly the Microsoft-Salesforce.com patent scrum was settled even though Marc Benioff called the software giant a thug. Assuming Oracle’s points are valid, Google may just pay up and move along.

Cowen analyst Peter Goldmacher noted that Oracle and Google are likely to reach an agreement. He said in a research note:

We are surprised that Oracle and Google couldn’t reach a deal on what appears to be a straightforward licensing agreement. We believe Oracle is justified in defending its patent portfolio but suspect that its negotiating tactics were more aggressive than Google cared for. While the names involved in the lawsuit are high profile, we suspect the amount of money at risk for either side, win or lose, is immaterial. We are not inclined to make this seemingly minor patent dispute a bigger issue.

9 10 February 2011From www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/oracle-vs-google-over-java-android-lawsuits-may-begin-to-pile-up/38019

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

BiographyLarry DignanLarry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

10 10 February 2011From www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/oracle-vs-google-over-java-android-lawsuits-may-begin-to-pile-up/38019

Oracle uses James Gosling patent to attack Google and Android developersBy Ed Burnette | August 12, 2010, 11:37pm PDT

Oracle stunned the computer industry last night by suing Google over patent and copyright infringements relating to its Android mobile operating system.

The specific complaint alleges that Google infringed on 7 patents that Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems. The patents include one written by the “father of Java”, James Gosling, who quit his VP position at Oracle in April.

The company also claims that its copyrights in “code, documentation, specifications, libraries, and other materials that comprise the Java platform” have been infringed. They want the court to enjoin Google and “persons in active concert or participation with it” (which seems to include all Android developers and companies in the Android ecosystem) from “continued acts of infringement of the patents andcopyrights” at issue.

Oracle is asking for treble damages, citing Google’s “willful” infringement. “Google has been aware of Sun’s patent portfolio,” Oracle says in the complaint, “including the patents at issue, since the middle of this decade, when Google hired certain former Sun Java engineers.” The engineers in question likely include Lars Bak, Robert Griesemer, and Frank Yellin, all former Sun employees who now work for Google on Java and Web browser technologies, and all of whom appear as inventors on one or more of the patents in question.

From www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/oracle-uses-james-gosling-patent-to-attack-google-and-android-developers/2035?tag=rbxccnbzd1 11 10 February 2011

Given that Google’s Eric Schmidt recently bragged that the company could bring in upwards of $10 billion per year thanks to Android, the possible damage awards are huge. So the question is, does Oracle have a leg to stand on with this complaint?

We’re still going through all the materials (the full complaint can be found here [http://stadium.weblogsinc.com/engadget/files/oracle-google.pdf]) but at first blush the copyright part of the action seems to be the weakest part. The Android virtual machine is a complete clean-room implementation of something that is almost but not quite Java. Android uses the Harmony class library from Apache, which was not created using any source code from Sun. Google has not used Sun’s Java coffee cup image, and in fact they take great pains to say that technically speaking, Android is not Java. So I’m at a loss to see where the copyright claims are coming from.

The patent claims may turn out to be another matter, however. Thankfully Oracle was kind enough to provide us with a list of the patents they say Google and friends are infringing. Here’s the list, along with their listed inventors, if you’d like to do your own research:

#6,125,447 : Protection domains to provide security in a computer system; Li Gong

#6,192,476 : Controlling access to a resource; Li Gong

#5,966,702 : Method and apparatus for pre-processing and packaging class files; Nedim Fresko, Richard Tuck

#7,426,720 : System and method for dynamic preloading of classes through memory space cloning of a master runtime system process; Nedim Fresko

#RE38,104 : Method and apparatus for resolving data references in generated code; James Gosling

#6,910,205 : Interpreting functions utilizing a hybrid of virtual and native machine instructions; Lars Bak, Robert Griesemer

#6,061,520 : Method and system for performing static initialization; Frank Yellin, Richard Tuck

The technology in at least one of these, the ‘720 patent, seems to clearly be used in Android. When the OS starts up, it creates a process called the “zygote” and initiaizes the Dalvik Virtual Machine inside that process. Then it forks (clones) that process to create every other process that uses Dalvik. By doing this, new Android processes can start up much quicker than they otherwise could have, because it’s a lot faster to copy the memory of an already started process than it is to execute all the initialization code.

Fortunately for Google, this trick has been around for ages, long before the ‘720 patent was filed. I remember first learning about it in emacs on Unix systems. After all your elisp code had been parsed and all your libraries loaded (which could take a dozen seconds or more), you could freeze a copy of memory onto disk. Later you start emacs

From www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/oracle-uses-james-gosling-patent-to-attack-google-and-android-developers/2035?tag=rbxccnbzd1 12 10 February 2011

quickly by loading the memory image from disk, making a few adjustments, and continuing execution from the point of the freeze in a fraction of the time.

The way the US patent system is currently set up, it’s difficult if not impossible to write a sizable body of code without unknowingly infringing on somebody’s patent. Your best hope seems to be to waste a lot of time filing as many patents as you can of your own, and hoping that anybody who sues you is unknowingly infringing on one of yours. That gives you a bargaining chip so you can do some kind of cross licensing deal. It’s a stupid, wasteful, unproductive government-created system that achieves the exact opposite of what was intended when it was first started. But, what can you do.

Ed Burnette has been hooked on computers ever since he laid eyes on a TRS-80 in the local Radio Shack. Ed enjoys learning and writing about Open Source, Java, and Eclipse.

BiographyEd Burnette

Ed Burnette has been hooked on computers ever since he laid eyes on a TRS-80 in the local Radio Shack. Since graduating from NC State University he has programmed everything from serial device drivers and debuggers to web servers. After a delightful break working on commercial video games, Ed reluctantly returned to business software. He currently develops OLAP servers and clients written in a mixture of C and Java.

In his copious spare time, Ed enjoys learning and writing about Open Source, Java, and Eclipse. He has written several articles and books on Eclipse, most recently the Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide from O'Reilly. He is an Eclipse committer, founding editor of EclipseZone.com, and former chief editor of the Eclipse Corner articles section at Eclipse.org.

From www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/oracle-uses-james-gosling-patent-to-attack-google-and-android-developers/2035?tag=rbxccnbzd1 13 10 February 2011

Why software patents are a joke, literallyBy Ed Burnette | August 16, 2010, 8:49pm PDT

It’s a well known fact that most individual software developers detest software patents. Maybe detest isn’t a strong enough word; how about loathe, dread, hate, despise, resent, and abhor? You get the picture. We dislike them almost as much as weekly status reports, deadlines, and conference calls.

So left on our own, most programmers won’t write patents. This was the situation in Sun’s early history, according to one of its most famous former employees, James “Father of Soul Java” Gosling. In an unusually candid blog post about the Oracle/Google patent lawsuit Sunday, he writes:

Sun didn’t file many patents initially. But then we got sued by IBM for violating the “RISC patent” - a patent that essentially said “if you make something simpler, it’ll go faster”. Seemed like a blindingly obvious notion that shouldn’t have been patentable, but we got sued, and lost. The penalty was huge. Nearly put us out of business.

In response, Sun engineers were asked to write as many patents as they could:

We survived, but to help protect us from future suits we went on a patenting binge. Even though we had a basic distaste for patents, the game is what it is, and patents are essential in modern corporations, if only as a defensive measure.

What happens when you make a bunch of smart, talented people to do something they’d really rather not do? The natural reaction is to poke fun at the task, and turn it into a game. A joke:

There was even an unofficial competition to see who could get the goofiest patent through the system. My entry [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?

From www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/oracle-uses-james-gosling-patent-to-attack-google-and-android-developers/2035?tag=rbxccnbzd1 14 10 February 2011

Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=44&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22gosling,+james%22.INNM.&OS=IN/%22gosling,+james%22&RS=IN/%22gosling,+james%22]

wasn’t nearly the goofiest.

In my last article, I mentioned that a patent from Gosling was one of seven cited in Oracle’s lawsuit. These patents are among those that Oracle acquired when they bought Sun earlier this year. James isn’t saying where these entries rated on the “goofy patent” scale, if at all. But another former Sun employee, Charles Nutter, has written a more detailed analysis. When considering whether or not the suit has merit, he states:

The collection of patents specified by the suit seems pretty laughable to me.

Perhaps now we know why.

Unfortunately, the joke is on all of us. It’s on our economy, as we let patents choke down innovation and increase fear, uncertainty, and doubt in an already uncertain time. It’s on our bottom lines, as we make busy-work for our expensive lawyers with their sparkling eyes instead of investing for the future. And it’s on our collective consciousness, as we force good and decent people to act against the better angels of their nature.

As always, my opinions are my own and don’t necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer or this publication (see the disclosure notice below).

Ed Burnette has been hooked on computers ever since he laid eyes on a TRS-80 in the local Radio Shack. Ed enjoys learning and writing about Open Source, Java, and Eclipse.

BiographyEd BurnetteEd Burnette has been hooked on computers ever since he laid eyes on a TRS-80 in the local Radio Shack. Since graduating from NC State University he has programmed everything from serial device drivers and debuggers to web servers. After a delightful break working on commercial video games, Ed reluctantly returned to business software. He currently develops OLAP servers and clients written in a mixture of C and Java.

In his copious spare time, Ed enjoys learning and writing about Open Source, Java, and Eclipse. He has written several articles and books on Eclipse, most recently the Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide from O'Reilly. He is an Eclipse committer, founding editor of EclipseZone.com, and former chief editor of the Eclipse Corner articles section at Eclipse.org.

From www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/oracle-uses-james-gosling-patent-to-attack-google-and-android-developers/2035?tag=rbxccnbzd1 15 10 February 2011

Blogs

Freedom for Java Vishal Sikka    Company: SAP AGPosted on Nov. 09, 2009 10:01 PM in Application Server, Composition Environment (CE), Eclipse, Java Programming, Open Source, SAP NetWeaver Platform, Standards

In a flat world whose economy is dependent on global relationships, IT has an essential enabling role to power the global business network. SAP systems are at the core of large parts of global IT, and are powering more than 65% of the transactions that make up the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). SAP bears a great responsibility to provide a stable core.

At the same time, SAP software also needs to be open and adaptable in order to allow customers and partners to be nimble and benefit from the speed of innovation within the SAP ecosystem.

The Role of Java in Global IT

There are few inventions that exemplify our aspirations and have captured our imagination the same way as the Java programming language, and we commend Sun Microsystems as its owner and steward for the ecosystem it has been able to build.

For 15 years, Java has been a programming language that brought about significant innovation. Java is everywhere, from large scale enterprise applications to mobile devices and payment cards.  Java is also the language of the community, enabling a whole generation of developers to collaborate and co-innovate within open source communities like Apache and Eclipse.

While remarkable new programming languages are invented frequently, on average roughly every ten years, the many software systems built using these languages have extensive lifespans. It is safe to say that systems developed with Java will be around for long long periods of time.

For SAP, it was an important decision when in 2001 we incorporated Java into our core products and made it an essential part of our technology platform SAP NetWeaver.

16From www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/4191 10 February 2011

Change is Coming

The Java industry is currently going through important changes, and there are many discussions around the openness of Java and the Java Community Process (JCP). To date, the JCP is heavily dominated by Sun Microsystems which was not always to the benefit of all parties interested in Java. Java is the lifeblood of the IT industry, and IT is a fundamental underpinning of the way business is conducted in the 21st century. The technical interfaces that are jointly developed by the community should be immune from bias, and the community should be able to work even closer together in the spirit of cooperation to continue the Java success story.

Independence and Freedom

To ensure the continued role of Java in driving economic growth, we believe it is essential to transition the stewardship of the language and platform into an authentically open body that is not dominated by an individual corporation. Java should be free of any encumbrances to permit fair competition between compatible implementations for the benefit of customers. By preserving the integrity of Java, the IT industry can ensure a vibrant developer community and continued innovation for enterprise software customers. This ensures the continued global economic success brought about through open innovation.

Eclipse is an excellent example where a brilliant technology has enjoyed dramatic adoption after it was set free and subsequently managed by a team not employed by a particular company. With the acquisition of Sun, Oracle has now the unique opportunity to open the Java Community Process, which manages the Java specifications, and transition it to an equally independent body. The Java Virtual Machine should become open source and be managed by an independent Board, including its license terms that are currently restricted to free software and thus not adaptable to the commercial terms required in the global IT marketplace.

 In fact, Oracle itself had already proposed such transition and the Java Executive Committee has subsequently made the following decision:

  "It is the sense of the Executive Committee that the JCP become an open independent vendor-neutral Standards Organization where all members participate on a level playing field ..."

JCP EC meeting summary - December 7th 2007, Resolution 1 (proposed by Oracle, seconded by BEA)

Note: Text and vote tally added to the text.

 

17From www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/4191 10 February 2011

Resolution 1 (proposed by Oracle, seconded by BEA)

"It is the sense of the Executive Committee that the JCP become an open independent vendor-neutral Standards Organization where all members participate on a level playing field with the following characteristics:

members fund development and management expenses a legal entity with by-laws, governing body, membership, etc. a new, simplified IPR Policy that permits the broadest number of

implementations stringent compatibility requirements dedicated to promoting the Java programming model

Furthermore, the EC shall put a plan in place to make such transition as soon as practical with minimal disruption to the Java Community."

From http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/summaries/2007/December07-summary.html

18From www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/4191 10 February 2011

If such new Java Foundation will be proposed by the owner of the Java programming language, SAP is committing to make significant investments in form of engineering and financial resources into Java technology and its new governance structure.

History Repeats Itself ...

  (c) picture-alliance / Sven Simon

History has always been the best judge for what a man has accomplished in life. In October 1989, visiting the country's leadership for the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Mikhail Gorbachev told hardliner Erich Honecker a sentence which is credited for setting in motion the Gentle Revolution of the GDR that effectively ended the Cold War: "Wer zu spät kommt, den bestraft das Leben" - "Those who are late are punished by life."

 

The German people will be forever grateful to their "Gorby" because on November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. But let us not forget that it took an equally great man and politician, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, to have the vision to directly address Mr. Gorbachev in a historical speech in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987.

19From www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/4191 10 February 2011

There are some striking similarities between the final days of the GDR and the fate of Java. In both cases, there has been a dangerous erosion of confidence because the ruling party has not been living up to the long awaited promise of reform to its people and community.

I believe that today, during these important times for Java, President Reagan's words can again provide us with that much needed vision. And so it is with great respect for him when I say:

"Mr. Ellison and Mr. Schwartz, open this gate! Gentlemen, tear down this wall! Let Java be free!"

Vishal Sikka   is Member of the SAP Executive Board, Leading Technology and Innovation

20From www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/4191 10 February 2011

Note: Selected responses to Mr. Sikka’s blog are shown below:

What happens of Java when Oracle takes over 2009-11-25 21:55:04 Davis Onsakia

It is my humble submission that this take over ( or merger) should not have been allowed in the first place. Sun Microsystems Ltd controls so much in terms on the Java programming language as well as MySQL database servers such that a take over by Oracle might stifle all these products and yet the wide audience have no recourse! I feel disheartened but such a turn of events - but then we can we do? Is it too late?

At the very least, let Oracle declare that Java will be an open source programming language, controlled by a community and not an individual company. Also, that MySQL database server will forever remain an open source database server - then we can rest pretty knowing that our interests are covered.

Sun's fate and year 2008- 2009 2009-11-25 15:21:09 Gopal T

I always have admiration for Java and Sun - the company which has contributed this great platform. Working with Sun's core developers way back in 2000 was inspiring on their vision and solid roadmaps. To tell in Vishal Berlin wall terms - they were building huge sports stadiums for everyone to play without any restrictions. But it should also be noted that Sun has not be monetarily recognized or sponsored by the people who used the vast sports arena. Now the entire stadium and the sport city as whole built-up is brought over by Oracle during the recession times, which happens to be big-competitor/rival of SAP.

What would have SAP done if it has taken over Sun as Oracle's complete product lines are developed on it and it does not even a ABAP stack like SAP has ? And kindly note Mr. Larry Ellison crisp quote on the day of takeover(not charity funded to Sun/Java) that "Sun will be crown of jewels of Oracle's takeover" - which means his focus as Business person would be more - what say Vishal ?

Note: We are a small company and all our product lines are in J2EE and in the same skeptical situations looking forward for Oracle’s move. Gopal, Founder- Eminentlabs™.

Friend of Enemy is Enemy ? 2009-11-25 08:06:20 Shafiq Rehman

What I don't like is the Sun is sitting with a competitor. It must be making SAP confused to invest in Java based solutions, and I see end of Java Stack support by SAP.

21From www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/4191 10 February 2011

Is this blog a ground for that ?

Agree, but... :) 2009-11-10 13:40:08 Michael Bechauf 

Unfortunately, Java is *not* an open source technology. The Java specifications can't be independently implemented without licensing the compatibility kit from Sun.

Passing the compatibility kit is not just an issue of calling it "Java" - beyond the trademarks, passing the compatibility suite is important for getting all necessary IP rights that Sun is holding in escrow. Open source implementations of Java need those IP rights as well. If Sun does not license the compatibility kit and the associated IP rights, open source can't exist.

You should ask Sun whether they have licensed their compatibility kits to any open source group, other than the one they are in charge of themselves (OpenJDK).

Some people have criticized us from following double standards (ABAP is closed, but Java should be open). The difference is that Sun has promised more openness for years, and they still have not delivered the basics. We never claimed that ABAP will be open; as a result, it only exists in SAP systems and is not as widely adopted as Java. However, Java was always promised to be open, just unfortunately, it isn't.

That does not mean that I disagree with the notion that SAP needs to do more in open source and standards. We do.

Agree, but... :) 2009-11-10 13:40:08 Michael Bechauf 

Unfortunately, Java is *not* an open source technology. The Java specifications can't be independently implemented without licensing the compatibility kit from Sun.

Passing the compatibility kit is not just an issue of calling it "Java" - beyond the trademarks, passing the compatibility suite is important for getting all necessary IP rights that Sun is holding in escrow. Open source implementations of Java need those IP rights as well. If Sun does not license the compatibility kit and the associated IP rights, open source can't exist.

You should ask Sun whether they have licensed their compatibility kits to any open source group, other than the one they are in charge of themselves (OpenJDK).

22From www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/4191 10 February 2011

Some people have criticized us from following double standards (ABAP is closed, but Java should be open). The difference is that Sun has promised more openness for years, and they still have not delivered the basics. We never claimed that ABAP will be open; as a result, it only exists in SAP systems and is not as widely adopted as Java. However, Java was always promised to be open, just unfortunately, it isn't.

That does not mean that I disagree with the notion that SAP needs to do more in open source and standards. We do.

Agree, but... :) 2009-11-14 21:24:07 Michael Bechauf 

Kristian,

forking OpenJDK is certainly a possibility, even though a pretty extreme one. In addition, it bears risks because without passing the certification suite from Sun, a Java licensee does not have the right to use any Java patents that Sun may hold. Unfortunately, the compatibility gate is something that needs to be licensed from Sun, so in other words Sun has a lot of control of who gets access to their patent portfolio.

It is frustrating to see that the Java community has trusted Sun for a long time to do the right thing, but it has still not provided any roadmap for Java to be an open standard. Sun has always talked about Java standards, and the JCP certainly works similar to a standard, but due to the veto control of Sun with regards to the licensing of Java IP, it has a lot of power.

And that is the most frustrating thing for me: While SAP is being accused to be the "Microsoft of Europe" (see http://boycottnovell.com/2009/11/12/sap-java-lobbies-against-oracle/), nobody talks at all about Sun's licensing practices and their patents with which they hold on to every little bit of power they have.

So, forking Java is perhaps possible, but I'd be very wary of Sun's use of Java-related patents.

23From www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/u/4191 10 February 2011