Java

As expected, Google asks for new trial in Oracle case

Google has formally filed its request for a new trial in its legal battle with Oracle.

The search giant last night asked Judge William Alsup to order a new trial regarding Oracle's claims that Google is violating copyrights related to its Java API packages.

"Please take notice that pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 591 Defendant Google Inc. ('Google') will, and hereby does, respectfully move for a new trial on Oracle's claim that Google is liable for infringement of Oracle's copyright on the structure, sequence and organization of the compilable code for the 37 Java API … Read more

Oracle gets a chance to rewrite software law

Every now and again, a court case comes along that stands to rewrite the legal rules of the computing industry -- and we might just be at such a juncture right now.

Oracle's suit against Google over Java and Android could be one such case. It's putting to the test the notion that application programming interfaces -- APIs -- can be copyrighted.

In a partial verdict today, a jury gave Oracle a hard-fought "yes" when U.S. District Judge William Alsup asked it, "As to the compilable code for the 37 Java API packages in … Read more

Oracle v. Google jury returns partial verdict, favoring Oracle

SAN FRANCISCO -- The jury in the Oracle v. Google trial rendered a partial verdict, favoring Oracle, in the copyright phase of the trial. Yet a question the jury failed to decide prompted Google to call for a mistrial, and could sharply limit damages even if the verdict stands.

The five male and seven female jurors failed to deliver unanimous answers to four detailed questions (see below) Judge William Alsup provided them prior to deliberations. The questions aimed to determine whether Google's Android mobile platform infringed on part of the Java programming language that Oracle acquired from Sun … Read more

New malware strain locks up computers unless ransom is paid

A campaign of "ransomware" is locking people out of their computers unless they pony up the right amount of money.

Spotted by security blog abuse.ch, the malware taps into an exploit kit known as "Blackhole." Sold underground, Blackhole is used by criminals to infect computers through security holes in the browser or third-party plug-ins, such as Java and Adobe Reader.

If the version of Java, for example, is not up to date with the latest patches, the downloaded file will exploit the software's weakness by downloading the Trojan to the PC and then running … Read more

Apple prepares upcoming Java updates for OS X

Apple is preparing updates to its Java 6 runtime for OS X 10.6 and 10.7, which will allow it to better co-exist with future versions of the Java runtime. These updates will soon be available for OS X 10.6 as "Java Update 9" and for OS X 10.7 as "Java Update 2012-004."

The Java SE 6 runtime that Apple provides for OS X 10.6 and 10.7 users will be the last in-house developed version of the Java runtime for OS X. For future versions starting with the upcoming Java 7 … Read more

Oracle-Google: Prospect of a partial verdict or mistrial looms

SAN FRANCISCO -- "Hope for the best, plan for the worst." That's where Judge William Alsup says we are while we wait for a verdict on the copyrights segment of Oracle v. Google at the U.S. District Court this morning.

Yesterday afternoon, the jury returned with the eighth note issued during the deliberation period, which asked, "What happens if we can't reach a unanimous decision and people are not budging?"

To recall, the jury began deliberating on Monday afternoon after lawyers from both Oracle and Google offered their closing statements for … Read more

Oracle tries to rewrite history for Sun and alter Java's future

During testimony at the Oracle v. Google trial last week, former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz and co-founder and Chairman Scott McNealy gave conflicting views. Schwartz maintained that as long as Google's Android mobile platform didn't call itself Java or use any of the branding, it was in the clear. McNealy disagreed.

Oracle-Google trial puts ex-Sun execs on opposite sides

Full coverage: Oracle v. Google lawsuit

Given that Sun didn't take Google to court, Schwartz, who was CEO from 2006 until 2010 when Oracle took over the company, apparently convinced McNealy and the board of directors … Read more

Questions from Oracle v. Google jury hint at copyright violation

SAN FRANCISCO--The jury in the Oracle v. Google trial returned to U.S. District Court here this morning without a verdict, but with more questions. The nature of those questions, however, suggests what some of the jurors might be thinking.

Both questions this time focused on fair use and Android revenue. One juror, for example, asked if "the definition of commercial use is limited in this case by virtue of Android being freely distributed?" further questioning if that means because Android is not sold directly, could they consider indirect revenue from the mobile platform?

Oracle's lead attorney … Read more

Oracle, Google lawyers spar over jury instructions

SAN FRANCISCO -- The jury in the Oracle-Google case continues to deliberate at the U.S. District Court over the first phase of the trial concerning copyright infringement.

The jury began deliberating on Monday afternoon after lawyers from both Oracle and Google offered their closing statements for the first segment of this trial.

As is customary in complex cases, the jury returned a few questions to Judge William Alsup, who read them in the courtroom for both legal teams and the public on Tuesday morning. But also customary was that there were disagreements from both sides on how to respond … Read more