Sun Microsystems

Google is facing a lawsuit over patent and copyright infringement in developing its Android operating platform. Google is accused of copying at least seven and as many as 43 Android files directly from Oracle's Java source code. It is not known yet whether the files were actually included with the shipping version of Android, but they were open sourced by Google under an Apache license, and that alone could be legally problematic for the company.

IBM and Oracle has come to a settlement over lawsuits launched against each other. IBM sued Joanne Olsen, a 30-year Big Blue veteran and former head of its services division. The lawsuit was filed by the company after Olsen was gained over by Larry Ellison after the purchase of Sun Microsystems.

In its filing IBM complained that Olsen had failed to take a year's gardening leave and was therefore taking advantage of confidential company information to help Oracle-Sun, which was now a direct competitor for big server and storage contracts.

Digital River, Inc. a known provider of global e-commerce solutions has announced the appointment of Alfred J. Castino to its board. Previously Castino worked as CFO of both Virage and Rightpoint; as vice president and corporate controller of Chiron; and as manufacturing controller at Wyse Technology. Prior to 1980, he held assistant vice president and auditor positions with Bank of America, Deloitte and Touche, and Arthur Andersen.

The most recent place of work was Autodesk (2002-2008), PeopleSoft, Sun Microsystems and HP.

Addressing Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco, California, Microsoft's server and tools chief Bob Muglia criticized Oracle for peddling a return to "1960s computing,” as the rival company goes against industry trends and backs obsolete technologies.

As it became known, IBM started a long-awaited upgrade to a range of its servers and other hardware targeting to make them more energy-efficient. This move will let IBM production to be more competitive than rival HP and Sun Microsystems products.

According to, International Business Machines Corp Monday report, the new POWER7 system, including new microprocessors, storage and middleware, will be able to process more data than its predecessor POWER6, making them useful for utilities with electrical grids or banks conducting electronic trading.

Japanese NEC Corp is establishing a partnership with a small maker of database computers Netezza Corp to form a coalition against Oracle’s conglomerate it wants to create by acquiring Sun Microsystems.

According to the official statement made jointly by the two companies NEC will build database computers that allow companies to store and analyze data about their operations using NEC blade servers and Netezza software.

As Oracle is getting closer to the deal with the Sun Microsystems many vendors of Java products are becoming concerned over the fate of the open-source platform. Mark Little, who is Red Hat's chief technologist for middleware and a member of the Java Community Process (JCP) executive committee, noted that Oracle may handle its stewardship of the Java programming language differently.

The European Commission raised objection to Oracle Corp's acquisition of a computer producer Sun Microsystems for $7 billion, bringing the deal into a question. According to EC preliminary assessment statement, combining Sun's MySQL database product and Oracle's products could badly affect competition in the database market. Oracle said it "plans to vigorously oppose the Commission's Statement of Objections".

 At an annual conference in San Francisco this week Oracle Corp declared the open war against International Business Machines Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison announced a $10 million prize to a company who would prove that IBM systems ran database software—which businesses use to store and sort through digital information—even half as fast as those from Oracle. IBM was also invited to participate.