Oracle Versus Google: The Database Kingpin Gets Desperate

Oracle's lawsuit against Google over alleged infringement of Java slipped from epic battle to soap opera this week: The relationships between the judge, jury, plaintiff and defendant have become a tangle of legal ambiguity and financial suffering ' or is it avarice? The jury deferred to the judge on the extent of Oracle's intellectual property protections. The judge, in turn, wrested from the jury control over the lion's share of damages, yanking Oracle's prize another few inches out of reach. With major issues still to be decided, it is becoming clear that Judge William Alsup holds the high cards - and that he has the tech smarts to play them intelligently and mercilessly.