http://www.businessinsider.com/oracle-sues-google-for-patent-and-copyright-infringement-2010-8
I don’t know what the outcome will be, but it seems like a shot to the heart for Java development. I mean with Android who wants to do J2ME dev?
They just want money.
It would be completely moronic to demand that it be removed.
Ok, java is now dead, purposely killed by oracle.
Good going.
I don’t think Google will just remove Java, they based everything on it. Maybe things will go better and Google will get official Java support? (Well that’s my wishful thinking)
I don’t know if suing someone is the way to get their help. Does this at least show Oracle is trying to do something with Java? As in improve it? (that’s my wishful thinking :P)
Well Sun was already killing Java, so this isn’t all that different.
More active destruction. Expect this to be a testing of the waters before lawsuits to apache, IBM. Even if the lawsuit is unsuccessful who would want to use a product made by a company that does this shit: lawsuits over VM technology patents (not trademarks?!?)?
BTW,
I hate Larry, but I was a bit too obscene here.
This will probably end up in some sort of settlement between the two companies which in the long run might actually turn out to be good for Java. Oracle are probably just trying to flex some muscle at Google to force some sort of settlement. Google has already invested heavily in Android so its likely they’ll end up settling and nobody likes big legal battles (except laywers :)).
If Oracle were really serious and just wanted money for the use of their patents, they’d have sued the entire Open Alliance (HTC, Samsung, Garmin, Sony, etc).
On the other hand its a risky move as Google (and the Open Alliance) have their own portfolio of patents and could try counter sue. This would just be bad for everyone and damage Java (and Android) alot more as Google would have to start moving away from normal Java like MS did with .Net.
Guess we’ll just have to wait for Google’s response before seeing which way this will go.
I think… fair’s probably fair. Google should probably license this stuff. It took Sun a looong time and a lot of money to get Java where it is today, and Google have profited rather nicely from all the effort without an awful lot of giving back. They could settle this entirely amicably.
Cas 
Android is the most successful product to have ever been derived from Java, and pisses all over J2ME.
As Sun tried and failed, morally I see no problem with Google coming along and doing it better - even if it does infringe on a few patents.
There really needs to be some kind of rewriting of the law to curb abuse of the copyright & patent system, as it simply isn’t fulfilling it’s intended purpose.
In this case it’s doing the exact opposite, big business stifling innovation and attempting to profit from punitive damages.
From a consumers perspective this can only be a bad thing.
Though handled correctly Google could turn this into a massive PR boon, and paint Oracle as the evil money grubbing mega-corp.
[…] and paint Oracle as the evil money grubbing mega-corp.
Huh? Oracle is an evil money grubbing mega-corp.
I liked Sun a lot better.
I don’t see any problems with copyright law (WRT to software). Patents on the other hand IHMO should simply be disallowed. The vast majority of software patents that I’ve read (which is quite a few) are either stupid (break the rules of something that is patentable) or so wide in scope that they cover everything that vaguely resembles to supposed solution, and thus is beyond anything envisioned by the so-called “creators”…which of course is the point of the exercise. Of those that are “invalid”, most likely in the vast majority of the cases, the filler knows perfectly well that’s it is the case. One of my favorites in the “stupid” category is a Sun patent:
public static int abs(int x)
{
int s = x >> 31;
x ^= s;
x -= s;
return x;
}
Which breaks the “obvious” rule since it’s falls directly out the definition of 2s-complement numbers and also the “previous in use or published” rule. But hey! So what? The patent office accepted it. My guess is that this was a defensive patent since everyone under the sun (yuck yuck) uses it.
I’ve done some custom audio & video codecs for clients. Probably 80% of my time “working” on the codec was insuring that I wasn’t stepping on a patent. Weee! Productivity!
I totally agree.
Even if oracle is a money grabbing corp, look what happend to Sun for not being the same. Im pro-Java and even though oracle may not be taking what we consider quality steps forward in the client side dev of java. I really think oracle has got what it takes for the survival of java through profitability.
Indeed. Oracle if anything are very committed to wringing a lot of serverside performance out of Java, which will only end up being good for the clientside in the end. We’ve got LWJGL anyway - sorted
Cas
Unless they call it a new product, and license it.
Don’t know what to say. I’ll surely grab some popcorn though. ;D
Eric Raymond seems to think this is Apple indirectly attacking Google to stop competition with the iPhone.
The current copyright system is severely disabled. Copyright was originally created as a tool for censorship and control, not for content creator protection. Now it is wildly out of control and even worse than it was when originally invented. http://techdirt.com/articles/20100810/02525810568.shtml
Patents should definitely be disallowed on software.
Google has a huge workforce of expert programmers. Won’t they just create their own VM?
I do wonder what database systems Google uses, probably something from Oracle? Maybe Google will make it’s own database servers
Unlikely. They’d rather pay and be over it than to go down that road.
Google have created their own VM. The problem is that Oracle think that the concepts in this VM tread on their patents.
Cas