6 posts and columns on copyrights

Oracle Co-President on SAP’s Damages Offer: “It’s Crazy”

in News on November 9, 2010 at 8:02 am PT

Whatever points SAP managed to score in its high-stakes legal battle with Oracle Monday–by introducing an email from Oracle President Safra Catz suggesting the company had not lost any large customers to its German competitor after it bought TomorrowNow–dropped off the board when Catz finally took the stand herself.

Oracle Enlists Process Servers, Not PIs, to Find HP CEO

in News on November 9, 2010 at 3:06 am PT

Oracle is still on the hunt for former SAP chief and current HP CEO Léo Apotheker, but it hasn’t enlisted private investigators to track him down. Sources in a position to know tell me that the PIs rumored to be searching for Apotheker are actually PSs–process servers, agents charged with delivering subpoenas to their intended recipient.

Oracle-SAP Trial: Ellison Swaps Katana for Poison Darts

in News on November 8, 2010 at 1:08 pm PT

If Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s testimony today in the SAP trial lacked his usual flair for enthusiastic bloodletting, it was only because he put aside his standard samurai tactics in favor of a more subtle ninja approach.

Google Asks Court to Toss Oracle’s Android Lawsuit

in News on October 5, 2010 at 8:50 am PT

Silicon Valley’s latest Goliath versus Goliath battle is officially on. Google today responded to Oracle’s claims that its Android OS infringes copyrights and patents related to Java, which Oracle acquired as part of its purchase of Sun Microsystems earlier this year. This morning, the search sovereign filed an answer to Oracle’s suit, denying all seven of its patent-infringement charges, and asking that the company’s copyright-infringement claim be dismissed because Google feels it is “legally deficient.”

France to Google Books Deal: Go Away or I Shall Taunt You a Second Time 

in News on September 8, 2009 at 4:30 am PT

Google claims that its Book Search settlement will “bring back to life millions of lost books in a way that serves the interest of all.” And if that truly is its goal, the company is going to have to put its own Brobdingnagian self interests second to those of others–if only for a little while. To wit, Google’s announcement Monday of a number of concessions to the European Union, which seems a bit dubious of the whole thing.
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Voices

Cablevision: Supreme Court Won’t Block Network DVR

in News on June 29, 2009 at 9:50 am PT

The U.S. Supreme Court today cleared the way for Cablevision to offer a network DVR service, allowing consumers to record copies of television programming “in the cloud,” rather than on set-top boxes. Without comment, the court refused to review a Court of Appeals ruling that rejected claims by film studios and television networks that the network DVR approach would infringe copyrights.