Mueller reports, “I have discovered additional material that Oracle might present to the court as examples of copyright-infringing material in the Android codebase:”
• Two months ago I took a close look at Exhibit J to Oracle’s amended complaint, which contained a synopsis of source code shipped by Google and Sun’s original Java code. I have since found six more files in an adjacent directory that show the same pattern of direct copying. All of them were apparently derived with the help of a decompiler tool. Those files form part of Froyo (Android version 2.2) as well as Gingerbread (version 2.3), unlike the file presented by Oracle.
• In addition, I have identified 37 files marked as “PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL” by Sun and a copyright notice file that says: “DO NOT DISTRIBUTE!” Those files appear to relate to the Mobile Media API of the Sun Java Wireless Toolkit. Unless Google obtained a license to that code (which is unlikely given the content and tone of those warnings), this constitutes another breach.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Meanwhile, let’s enjoy a short 30-second bit of video:
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “sparkplug” for the heads up.]
Now you know what was REALLY the reason for Eric to quit (Being removed) as CEO.
@
@Troy
You said the most inportant and real reason why the shake up happened, they are in damage repair mode already, and are fully aware of what is at the end of this very short and bleak tunnel.
A settlement is the worst case scenario here. It will not stop production of Android devices. Google will pay some couch change $B & Android will live to play another day. Don’t see an infringement suit ending Android.
@ kim
No, When google loses to Oracle, they will have to pay a fee for evey android phone os made before and after and also a fine and maybe ….. For God sake we have no clue what is going to happen
But the thing for sure will happen is that Googles free OS WILL NOT BE FREE ANYMORE and this will throw out all of what they have pushed for, it will cost them money in fees to keep Android going and it will cost Googles Phone partners money to buy thoes phoens.
So it will more then distroy everything Google has pushed for and cement in what we already are aware of, that they can’t be trusted with Anything and they are a buch oh theives.
And that’s beings nice and very,very, basic.
Good Day.
This may help MS. Handset makers need an operating system, if the manufacturers feel there may be risk going forward, free might not be so attractive anymore. They are likely to more fully adopt Win Phone 7. Still good for Applee, however.
@kim, and then you and the other GOOG apologists woke up.
What part of the article didn’t you understand?
I know it went into a lot of patent and software technobabble . But surely you get the part about cut-and-paste of Oracle (Sun) code into Android.
Anyway, here’s the deal: Google and all their Android ‘partners’ are fsked.
Capiche?
Google has exposed Motorola to so much risk. I wonder if they disclosed the fact that they copied Android from Oracle/Sun to Moto and if this is articulated in the agreement.
This really brings up major trust issues with Google. I wonder if Eric Schmidt move has anything to do with the trust issues.
Yeah, I’m with the folks who say this will help Microsoft.
Don’t worry, the American legal system is smoking crack.
Nothing will happen to Google, it will cost them pocket change to bypass this.
Hmmm, may be not:
Oops: No copied Java code
Interestingly, it’s Oracle suing Google over Android, not Apple.
Andy Rubin is the one who has some ‘splainin’ to do… I doubt seriously a man like Rubin would steal code and say anything to anyone about it.
Schmidt will be above the fray.
@ Boghog – Bear in mind, it *is* ZDNet reporting that rebuttal. And it still admits this head-scratcher:
I did find one odd thing about the first 7 files. Sun published those files on its web site to help developers debug and test their own code. For some reason, the Android or Harmony developer who was using them decompiled and rebuilt them instead of just using the ones from Sun. Later an Apache license got incorrectly pasted to the top of the files, perhaps by some automated script.
Why on earth would these files be decompiled and rebuilt in the first place, with an Apache license “incorrectly” pasted on top? Still feels like something’s being swept under the rug…
Looks like he back pedaled.
@ Boghog – Another followup story indicates that from a legal perspective, the mere presence of these files is enough to make Google’s liability worse:
The single most relevant legal question is whether or not copying and distributing these files was authorized by Oracle, and the answer clearly appears to be “nope” — even if Oracle licensed the code under the GPL. Why? Because somewhere along the line, Google took Oracle’s code, replaced the GPL language with the incompatible Apache Open Source License, and distributed the code under that license publicly. That’s all it takes — if Google violated the GPL by changing the license, it also infringed Oracle’s underlying copyright. It doesn’t matter if a Google employee, a script, a robot, or Eric Schmidt’s cat made the change — once you’ve created or distributed an unauthorized copy, you’re liable for infringement.
@Gabriel
I agree that Google is probably liable to some extent. However given that this particular Java code was not actually used by Android nor shipped with it (just included along side the source code) may limit the damages. On the other hand, this just might be the tip of the iceberg. If there is disguised Java code that is used in Android and Oracle can prove it, this would be much more serious.
Regardless, this is a complex case involving more than these specific files. It will probably take years for the courts to sort out.
Here is another take.
THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN FALSE AND FALSE, and yet the blind and biased Apple bullies keep spreading B.S.
A bot, when copying the sources, mistakenly copied wrong files into the source tree [1]. Those were *not* used in Android (they serve a different purpose, testing and addons IIRC). Truth is, if they were maliciously doing it, they would make sure that those notices would have been edited.
Right after that claim, the source files disappeared, and nobody noticed. And why? Because they are *NOT* used in Android.
[1] -> I hope you Apple jerks know what a source tree is.