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Paid Media Must Be Disclosed In Oracle v. Google
jfruh writes "One of the odder moments during the Oracle v. Google trial over Java patents came when patent blogger Florian Mueller disclosed that he had a 'consulting relationship' with Oracle. Now it looks like we're going to find out which other tech bloggers and journalists were on the payroll of one of the two sides in this epic fight. Judge William Alsup has ordered (PDF) that both parties disclose 'all authors, journalists, commentators or bloggers who have reported or commented on any issues in this case and who have received money (other than normal subscription fees) from the party or its counsel during the pendency of this action.'"
This will be very interesting.
That Pppprrrrrr sound is the noise of dozens of bloggers and self appointed media pundits simultaneously crapping their pants.
Every Oracle employee will now be provided a retroactive subscription to a collection of technology blogs and news sites. Don't worry, all expenses will be paid for by the company.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
I want to make it totally clear that it must be some other Anonymous Coward who's been taking money from both sides.
--
I do not usually reply to gweihir (88907) either. So there.
Let's set aside the quibbles, and for the sake of argument just roll with the notion that these writers are mere shills for the Oracle and Google, respectively (after all, that's the notion that clearly lies behind this ruling).
Isn't the right to speak anonymously protected by the First Amendment? Doesn't that protection extend to Oracle and Google too?
(I know corporate speech isn't as vigorously protected under the First Amendment, but it is still protected somewhat. And this speech isn't advertising (as with most limitations on corporate speech), it's closer to legal/political commentary).
I would be most interested to see this in SCOTUS.
Florian Mueller paid schill?! Well smack my arse and call me Susan. I was not expecting that.
A veritable bolt from the blue.
Now this is going to be fun! Part of me would rather remain blissfully ignorant on this...
the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
why would the judge care other than for his own curiosity? what possible impact could it have on the case?
It would be very interesting if it happens to Apple too. I can safely bet Apple is the technology company that has more "journalists" in their payroll.
After all, when these types of cases come up, it often has serious effect in the market. So when there are paid-for opinions which are believed to be independent, it alters the perceptions of shareholders and potential shareholders when they are deciding to buy or not to buy. One could conceivably bring meritless lawsuits against market opponents coupled with media doom (such as we saw with Meuller) and see a gain in market value long enough to make a tidy sum when you sell some of your shares at the right time... then buy them back when the truth comes out. The net outcome might be a loss for the company, but a huge benefit to majority shareholders.
If the judge in the apple case is following this one from Alsup (one can hope), then I bet that will come up as well. The interesting part will be seeing which journalists, etc are on which payrolls in conjunction - as it's not hard to contrive that apple/ms/oracle has the same pundits on the payroll for all 3. We already have 2 of 3 confirmed by Florian.
Is anyone actually surprised Florian Mueller is a shill?
Did anyone not see that coming? Hopefully, the media will stop printing anything he says.
Not exactly a surprise, but I'd sure like to get my hands at the statistics afterwards...
The tide is gonna recede and all the scums are gonna lay bare on the beach.
This may have nothing to do with anonymous speech. When "expert" opinions are being considered in court, they must be able to withstand scrutiny. Florian Mueller is not just some random interested party, he published an article claiming that he had evidence of copyright infringement.
http://www.fosspatents.com/2011/01/new-evidence-supports-oracles-case.html
If Oracle used his opinions in court, Google should be given the opportunity to cross examine him.
Either way, it is nice to see someone rubbing Florian's nose in it. Another great ruling by Judge Alsup!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florian_M%C3%BCller#Google_vs_Oracle_copyright
Would be interesting if the judge had ordered the shills to disclose their slashdot ids too. Would be hilarious.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
I wish Judge Kimball or Judge Steward had ordered this in the SCO case.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Congress should pass the Rob Enderle act immediately to prevent out of control judges from assaulting the good name of IT industry analysts everywhere!
- jon
Ganymede, a GPL'ed metadirectory for UNIX
I wonder how many accounts on slashdot etc could be identified.
Most here I see tend to be shills for certain other tech corps, but I wouldn't be surprised to find some for Oracle/Google as well.
Florian Mueller is essentially a whore. I'm surprised that he can attract business anymore, it's well known by everyone (except maybe the mainstream media) that he's bought and paid for.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I'm not a shill - the closest thing to a tech corp that I've ever worked for was a one-person consultancy that needed an extra semi-competent warm body. However, I have done a bit of Java programming. And I have a gmail account.
Geology - it's not rocket science; it's rock science
This is going to be an interesting list... I know that Google funds a number of so-called non-profits to campaign for their needs. I wonder if they count as "media". They all have blogs where they take positions like these: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/05/oracle-v-google-and-dangerous-implications-treating-apis-copyrightable
they ought to do this during elections
Leading up to a crappy Megan Fox movie release, they were flooded with articles (unflagged as payola) about every minute detail of her life. Even the bloggers were commenting about the unwarranted attention. Then, the promos started...
I've seen them do that with lots of other wannabe stars as well. That and funneling traffic to "gone viral" YouTube videos with ~1000 hits.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
most of the bloggers will be paid through an external PR company so they will have 3rd party deniabilty. Nothing to see here. If oracle was paying directly to a blogger then they are dumbasses.
Try this entry for blatant sock puppeting: http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/08/microsoft-says-motorolas-efforts-to.html
Does he seriously believe that posting that and pretending to be unbiased is ok when he is conducting a study on the same topic that is funded by Microsoft: http://www.fosspatents.com/2011/10/study-on-worldwide-use-of-frand.html
I'd imagine it's a bit more fine-grained than that.
As in, receives direct benefits/payment from Google or Oracle, rather than "is a user of services/products provided by Google or Oracle"
Otherwise that would include every Android phone owner and everyone with Java installed on their Desktop....
This court decision should be applied across the board and especially to companies like Apple
Pfft. They would have to arrest every analyst and full service broker. You should assume all advice has been bought.
The reason he is quoted so widely is because he is known to email his blog entries to every single media outlet and until recently, there weren't that many people writing about technology patents.
Unfortunately, this seems way too common lately, and seems to reflect a weak spot in the media. I work in an entirely different field, but one that has received a lot of media attention the last couple of years for a specific reason (having to do with medicine; I'd go into details but I don't want to fan the fire).
In my field there is this blogger who almost single-handedly controls the media coverage on this issue (in major outlets like the NY Times, LA Times, etc., as well as smaller outlets). The reason why is because he's so aggressive about pursuing the media, and throws his material to them like candy for kids in a parade.
To people on the inside, it's totally obvious how he's biased, and where his conflict of interest is. It doesn't take much poking around either to figure it out (it's all very public). It's disturbing to me that journalists at major outlets just take stuff from people without questioning their motives and looking for other points of view. If anything, they should be *less* likely to publish material from people who are aggressively advertising it to them.
My larger point is that aside from all the stories this tells about patent law and coverage in the US, it says something bigger about problems in the journalism industry (and not just with classic journalism either--it's a problem with new and old journalism).
Here is a simple explanation of why the Judge has ordered this:
1) You are allowed to claim anything you like in a court of law and you can't be sued for slander, defamation, libel etc. as otherwise the legal system would be completely broken.
2) Journalists are allowed to report anything they like and they can't be used for slander, defamation, libel etc. as otherwise freedom of the press would be completely broken.
3) Oracle appears to have paid 'journalists' to repeat the claims made in court as fact. Because those claims are now being made outside of court, they don't have the courts protection against being sued. Because the 'journalist' is acting as a paid agent of Oracle they are no longer protected by freedom of the press.
So this isn't a first amendment issue - this is just a did Oracle pay someone to defame Google issue.
"Free software as in beer, copy protection as in racket" - Telsa Gwynne
Does this include any blogger that used AdSense on their blog that might have posted or commented about this?
This is, basically, what you get if you have a rather unregulated capitalist society which is still a long, long way from male/female equality. So where was I...
Ah yes. Calling Florian Mueller a whore is deeply insulting to honest prostitutes.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
You appear not to have heard of perjury.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Oh I know this one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUw-qRihn7k
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
You should get out and actually learn about the world with practical first hand experience, and then you can have an informed opinion.
Three years as a night shift taxi driver in Melbourne where brothels are legal, regulated, and discrete. Informed by brief first hand accounts (and offers to barter services) from literally hundreds of prostitutes, admittedly it was two decades ago but nothing appears to have changed. What's your first hand experience, oh worldly one?
even if it were fully legalized the way it is in Amsterdam
Having also been to Amsterdam in the flesh, I think the main difference with Melbourne is the level of visibility, in Melbourne the average brothel looks like a big house, in Amsterdam they display themselves in shop front windows. The laws have been this way in Melbourne for at least 30yrs and you will find similar laws and attitudes across most of western Europe, Amsterdam gets all the attention because it's in your face,
You sound like an academic who is an expert on sex because you have read every single book on the subject.
If you have never met a hooker who enjoys her job, then perhaps you are projecting your shortcomings onto me? The hooker has the right to say no to a customer without giving a reason, a customer has the same right, these messy logistical and organic details are agreed upfront. The opinion of many of the happy hookers I met was the job is about as dangerous as driving a taxi or tending bar on a Saturday night
In answer to your flamebait, you sound like a frustrated young man who desperately needs to meet an intelligent, shameless whore who looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. I suspect you have the sitcom "Big Bang Theory" of women as reluctant participants in sex which is reinforced by their reluctance to have sex with you. As for my own expertise in sex, I'm a divorced grandfather of 3 in a de-facto relationship, when your chest is silver and your sack starts suffering from gravel rash come back and we will talk about "life-experience" again.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.