Oracle Sues Companies It Says Provide Solaris OS Support In Illegal Manner 154
alphadogg writes "Oracle is continuing to crack down on companies it claims are providing support services for its products in an illegal fashion. Last week, Oracle sued IT services providers Terix and Maintech, alleging they have 'engaged in a deliberate scheme to misappropriate and distribute copyrighted, proprietary Oracle software code' in the course of providing support for customers using Oracle's Solaris OS. Oracle's allegations are similar to ones it has made in lawsuits against other Solaris service providers, such as ServiceKey, as well as Rimini Street, which provides third-party support for Oracle and SAP applications."
/. title could mean the suit itsel is illegal (Score:2, Funny)
Sometimes I get a bit tripped up by bad grammar, but the title of this slashdot article "Oracle Sues Companies It Says Provide Solaris OS Support In Illegal Manner" as well as the link text "Oracle is continuing to crack down on companies it claims are providing support services for its products in an illegal fashion" are both ambiguous as to where the illegality is.
How I read it: "Oracle sues (companies it says provide Solaris OS support) in illegal manner." How I think it's supposed to read: "Oracle sues (companies it says provide Solaris OS support in illegal manner)."
Very subtle difference in how it's read, very substantial difference in how it's interpreted. Either Oracle is filing an illegal lawsuit (which I doubt) or Oracle is filing a lawsuit against companies with illegal Solaris OS support services. Perhaps a better phrasing would be: "Oracle sues companies who allegedly offer illegal Solaris OS support."
(Hm, maybe I should RTFA.)
Re:Oracle claims the defendants are distrib new ve (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds a lot like Cisco.
Me: Hi Mr. Cisco, I need a Catalyst 4500, how much is it?
Cisco: Sure, fill in this form, send a copy of your last quarterly report, bank statements, and a letter of recommendation from some of your customers, and a sales executive will contact you.
Me: But i only want a switch?
Cisco: Please, we need that information.
Me: Okay...
(weeks later)
Cisco: HI THIS IS COCAINE JOE YOUR OVER ENTHUSIAST ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, THE PRICE FOR THE CISCO CRS YOU ORDERED IS $3M AND A SUPPORT CONTRACT OF $5M
Me: Hey but I only asked for the price of a Catalyst 4500
Cisco: YES BUT WE HAVE DETERMINED IT WILL NOT MEET YOUR COMPANY'S REQUIREMENTS SO IN ORDER TO SUPPORT YOU WE HAVE TO SELL YOU OUR LATEST AND GREATEST AND MORE EXPENSIVE!!!
Me: never mind, I'll find another vendor.
I especially love it when sales people try to sell you a $50,000 solution for a small business and claim that TCO is always lower. It seems, the higher the up-front cost, the lower the TCO is!
Re:Slowaris Delenda Est (Score:0, Funny)
Non-expressive works, hence not copyrightable.
Ergo, not reasonable or fair.