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Oracle-Google trial begins [ecPulse](ecPulse Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) San Francisco is the place where the battles between technology giants Oracle and Google will begin on Monday, and may last 8 weeks, where the matter at the heart of the case is the software platform Java. Since such lawsuits are hardly rare, this is one of the biggest tech lawsuits so far, as Oracle is claiming about $1 billion in compensation. Oracle, a hardware and software provider, claims that Google's Android operating system, the most widely used platform for smartphones, violates its intellectual property rights to Java. Java was first released in 1995 and allows software to be run across computer platforms, and in 2009 the Java became Oracle's property when the company bought original developer, Sun Microsystems. However, Google stands firm when saying it does not violate Oracle's patents, and that Oracle cannot copyright certain parts of Java. In 2010, Oracle sued Google over seven patents and copyright claims for the Java programming language, estimating the damages at $6.1 billion. Google was accused to have copied 37 application programming interfaces (APIs) as well as 11 lines of Java source code when creating the Android. However Google managed to narrow the claims so that only two patents remain, estimated at $1 billion in copyright damages. Google believes that one can copyright any program because it is unique but one cannot demand copyrights on the language it is written in. Experts believe that this lawsuit could set a worrying precedent due to its widespread implications, since the language is used by many applications and software. The entire technology community will be watching during the course of the trial big names appearing in the witness box, including CEO of Oracle Larry Ellison, CEO and co-founder of Google Larry Page and former Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz. (c) 2012 ecPulse.com All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |