These two companies have been fighting it out for some time now- since 2010, with some sort of monetary offers coming from the G side- not nearly enough to make Oracle feel all warm and fuzzy. The dispute is based on Google’s Android phone operating system. Oracle alleges that the Android operating system infringes on patented, copyrighted Java technology (that Oracle bought when acquiring Sun Microsystems in 2010).
The Top 5 Reasons We Should All Care:
Number 1
Someone’s about to get paid. Not paid like you or I, but more like Mitt Romney paid! To the tune of a cool billion dollars. If that someoneis Oracle- count on Google passing on those costs in either the cost of devices, apps, music, or video.
Number 2
We all like Google- right? Wrong! Everyone is suing them! Because Android is so large, everyone thinks they have stolen something. Let’s all get in and get a piece of the action! If Google loses this one, it could open the door for future losses!
Number 3
As these are reasons are in no particular order, this could be the most important. You are reading this article, on this site, because you love Android- I mean, you really, REALLY love it! A Google loss, could spell success for Apple. As the API is what is really under fire here- a loss could mean that developers for Android would have to re-tool all of their apps. That might just drive them to switch to developing for Apple exclusively. As a user firmly invested in the Google ecosystem, that would break this writer’s heart!
Number 4
Open source. Would Open Source really mean open source any more? Somewhere down the road could I be sued for using OpenOffice without paying for it for all of these years?
Number 5
If Sun loses- is Java finally done? Google winning invalidates the patent on Java. If Google loses, the Java is really not open- and potentially vendors and developers might want to move to another operating system! Either way- things they will be changing!
There are more ancillary reasons to watch. CEO’s could go down in flames as a result of their testimonies. Who doesn’t like watching those trainwrecks of rich executives who think they are above the law? Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison admitted during testimony that he wanted to take on Google in the mobile industry prior to suing them. That is sheer entertainment value! Could this impact Windows Mobile? Maybe. Could it bring RIM’s Blackberry OS back from the brink of death? No. That would take a miracle- or a catastrophe in which all other mobile operating systems were wiped from the face of the Earth.