
Good news
Sometimes.
Oracle has been ordered to pay part of Google's legal bill in the database giant's failed Android patent infringement lawsuit. Oracle had tried to prove in court that Google's mobile operating system Android unfairly copied its Java technology. Now Oracle will have to pay $1.13m to settle its opponent's tab, including the cost …
Maybe someone can point me to what number constitues a few lines of code... I may not know programming but maybe I can copy and paste my way to a killer app.
Anyone Favor a new copy of my first program :
WinTwitAvastBlogGMapEssentials for android?
Its the frist OS to simultaneously twitter your antivirus scan resuts while blogging your activities and updating your location automatically on somthing vaugley resembling google maps but is't so that random tech people can accost you at any point in time to clean your machine for a fee before you infect others.
(Joke)
But sadly I'm gonna patent the idea anyways just in case lol
You didn't report my favourite bit of the ruling:
"A close follower of this case will know that Oracle did not place great importance on its copyright claims until after its asserted patents started disappearing upon PTO reexamination"
Some of us commented on exactly that when they finally reached court with SCO's 2nd hand legal case standing in for a real one. That it's also why Alsup refused to reduce that part of the costs claim just adds to the fun.
Still, David Boies's PR campaign to suggest Google bought public opinion is over and I doubt the judge is well pleased with being led on a wild goose chase by it. Maybe he checked past Boies cases and read recent interviews with the man and notice the repeating MO. Can't have helped with the costs award ;)
Iconoclasts and dickheads I can take, when they make a solid argument. I think Orlowski's problem in this instance is the difference between "patents provide a social good in general" and "this specific decision in this specific case about these specific patents provides a social good".
Even if a Larry, in this case, neither would really hurt as they are rich, even filthy rich.
The bit that really hurts is that Larry the Mouth and Oracle lost. The lost prestige and the argument. Egg all over his face.
And Google no doubt learned something for it's USD3-million, clean up the comments in your code ... not that they are alone.