This presentation released by Oracle gives a clear picture of what it is suing Google for. It definitely presents the picture from Oracle's part, and on first look paints a very dark picture about Google's use of android. Oracle claims that the Android framework is copied from Java, without paying the due credit, and of harming the bigger java community. Some example (of code) do suggest that Android is based on Java, a lot of it is just taken verbatim.
This part of the presentation clarifies what is going on :
Do you need a license if you are building an application using Java : No. However, if you are extending Java, and providing an API specification or application framework of your own, you do need one, especially for commercial purposes. Android clearly (until court decides otherwise), in my holy opinion, falls under that category.
Here is what the presentation says about 'When is a Java License necessary' :
- You are writing an application (say a web-application) in Java programming language : NO
- You are providing class libraries on Java API Designs : YES
- Downloading java software components: YES
Most of the developers of java fall under the first category, but some companies do need to use Java for the rest two and they thus purchase License from Oracle (formerly from Sun) and some also contribute to Java community. Several exampls quoted in the presentation.
I think Oracle has a good case, however the Google side of the story is interesting as well, as it claims that Java programming language, or any language for that matter is not copyrightable. Partly true, and remains to be seen how it is presented in court. Meanwhile, the hearing started in San Francisco yesterday (17th April) and the next 8 weeks are going to be really interesting.
And then remains the lawsuit about the patent/copyright infringements which will be heard soon after. More on that later.
References:
Oracle presentation (91 pages, takes a while to open) : http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/features/opening-slides-1592541.pdf
Bloomberg news coverage : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-17/ellison-testifies-oracle-explored-dropped-making-java-phone-1-.html
BBC news : http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17705873
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