FBI Watching Oracle-SAP Trial

angry tapir writes "An FBI agent has been in the courtroom each day this week watching the Oracle-SAP trial, suggesting US law enforcement continues to take an interest in the case. SAP said in 2007, when Oracle filed its civil lawsuit against the company, that the Department of Justice had requested documents related to the matter from SAP and its TomorrowNow subsidiary. SAP said at the time that it would 'fully cooperate.' In a court filing in August, SAP said there was an 'ongoing investigation' by the DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into 'some facts and circumstances that are involved in this matter.'"

Comments

OK..

[js3]

so the FBI is watching them..how is this news for nerds or news for that matter? what's the relevance of this story? An FBI agent goes to work. that's it?

Re:It's the Larry Ellison Parade

[Anonymous Coward]

That's quite an interesting way to put this... When it comes to SAP, you talk about the company as a whole, but when it comes to Oracle, you talk about Larry as an individual and characterize him as a "douchebag". What's the matter? Can't compare apples to apples?

Re:It's the Larry Ellison Parade

[arkane1234]

Well, if you think about it, between the two he is kinda the only CEO of the two who is a megalomaniac.

SAP doesn't seem to have a CEO who thinks the very breathing of the company is his own.

Re:Secondary Audio Program?

[leamanc]

Although there used to be several large players in the ERP software business, it basically comes down to SAP and Oracle now. Since Oracle likes to have as few competitors as possible, they filed suit in 2007 against SAP, claiming that SAP's ERP software infringed on Oracle's intellectual property in an effort to cripple SAP, in the hopes of one day being the only player in the large-scale ERP software world.

Re:It's the Larry Ellison Parade

[hairyfeet]

While I'm sure SAP have made some smart buys, they wouldn't be here if they hadn't, you have to admit this one was a GIANT fuckup. It would be like buying a factory in a really nice area sight unseen, without even bothering to check whether that nice area is a bombed out area of Detroit or the nice factory is sitting on a toxic waste dump.

As for the pay, that should be simple: How much did the company that SAP bought make selling to Oracle customers? Take that figure and add 30% for interest. Otherwise you have a situation where you can do any kind of hinky shit you want as long as you can sell it to another company who'll get a slap on the wrist. Theft is theft, and in this case I would argue it is no different than going to OEMs and selling them "Windows 7 Ultimate Razr1911 Edition". They had NO rights to ANY of what they were pushing, those LIMITED rights were the customers and the customers ONLY (I'm sure old Larry has that pretty much ironclad in the contract) so basically their entire business was nothing but a scam. At the very least I'd say it is worth what SAP paid for the company, since they obviously thought the company was worth that much and their business was built on theft.

To use a /. car analogy: If I get a great deal on a chop shop should I only have to pay a percentage because I didn't bother to even find out where the business I bought was making their money from? In the end it doesn't matter whether you think SAP is great and Larry is a douche (haven't used either companies products but I'll take you word and have seen enough of Ellison to know he is probably an ass) it comes down to whether one can profit by stealing a product to undercut the one who made it. Just imagine the shitfit they'd have here on /. if it was RHEL that was having their code snatched. In the end what is wrong is wrong and SAP is gonna get screwed for this, and rightly so. Whatever moron told them purchasing that company was a good idea needs to be stuck in a hut selling SAP products in Antarctica.

Re: FBI Watching Oracle-SAP Trial

[Low Ranked Craig]

Citation needed.