SAP Ordered To Pay $1.3 Billion To Oracle

bdcny7927 writes with news that a jury decided to award Oracle $1.3 billion in their lawsuit against SAP after deliberating for less than a day. "The verdict ... is the biggest ever for copyright infringement and the largest US jury award of 2010, according to Bloomberg data. The award is about equal to SAP’s forecasted net income for the fourth quarter, excluding some costs, according to the average estimate of analysts... SAP spokesman Bill Wohl said the German software maker will pursue all available options, including post-trial motions and will appeal if necessary."

Re:Jingoism?

[Anonymous Coward]

If SAP doesn't like it then they can cease to doing business in America and with American companies.

Re:Serves them right!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Noy just any old songs, Miley Vaniley songs!

*deep sigh*

Okay, seriously, man. Look over that and ask yourself: Did that add anything of value to the joke? Anything at all?

More specifically, would this have been a better time to simply let the joke be as it is? Because now... I mean, now your username's on this and everything. Now people have a name to associate with it. And Slashdot doesn't allow you to take back your words. Would this have been a better time to just keep quiet, appreciate the joke, and move on somewhere else?

These are serious questions, really.

Re:Awesome

[mangu]

for all I know SAP could totally be in the right.

But I still love seeing them in pain.. after all the pain they've caused everyone else.

A legal battle between SAP and Oracle sounds like a (forgive me, Godwin) war between Nazi Germany and Stalinist Soviet Union.

Whoever loses, they deserved it, and I hope no one wins.

Make a better summary!

[meustrus]

It really bugs me that there seem to be these stories, mostly about copyright-related lawsuits, where the OP assumes that everyone on Slashdot knows what the lawsuit was about. Well, I don't know what Oracle sued SAP for, and if I did I forgot. Who can keep these acronyms and company names straight anyway? If it were just once I wouldn't be bothered to RTFA but I shouldn't have to RTFA just to understand the summary of a story that normally I wouldn't care that much about. These things seem to come up once every couple of days though.

Re:Quote from SAP's lawyer:

[vux984]

Ummm...no.

Ummm... yes.

Damages should also be based on some sort of "punishment" factor.

Damages by definition really should be based on how much DAMAGE was caused.

A punitive fine in addition to damages may be appropriate though.

I would think it is important to prevent companies from simply writing off illegal activities and paying off some trivial amount of money in the even they get caught.

Even if the "activities" only caused trivial damage?

Re:Jingoism?

[Anonymous Coward]

If black people don't like it then they can cease to live in America and with American white people.

Re:A warning to everyone who uses the word lose

[santax]

It's not about the conviction. It's about the insane amount of damages for copyright infringement. Has nothing to do with USA-bashing. It's called criticism of a backwards justice system. Sorry if that's to much to handle for you.

SAP admitted to piracy

[judeancodersfront]

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-cms/sap-admits-liability-in-oracle-software-piracy-case-009028.php [cmswire.com]

The Oracle hatred distortion field seems to be blocking out this pertinent fact. Is there a way to disable it for 24 hours?

Re:Awesome

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, no. In wars, the young and innocent die and there was no victory in the loss of so many people in Europe. But SAP have for years been leaders in selling crap at a premium and calling it gold, more even than Oracle. Which is an amazing trick. They are bastards who have crippled many firms with their software and consulting fees, and they deserve every stick and stone. No one will die but maybe people will invest less in them.

Re:Jingoism?

[ffreeloader]

This is a raft of crap written by someone who wants things their own way 100% of the time. I seem to remember the EU fining American companies several billion dollars.

Should American's complain that all those EU fines were just EU jingoism?

To tell the truth I don't see any jingoism going on at all, in either case, as this doesn't fit the description of jingoism. Jingoism is feverish excitement for a nation, not a company, unless you're trying to say that SAP == Germany, and that Oracle == US. I can't see how that is even close to being logical thinking, nor have I ever met anyone dumb enough to think that way. In fact, I don't know of anyone who is familiar with how Oracle and SAP do business who really likes either one of them. People may invest in either company in hopes of getting a return on their investment, but actually like either company? That's a horse of another color.

Re:How about... Re:A warning to every company

[santax]

Yes, that would be a valid point, but still the damages aren't damages... This is pure profit for Oracle. And a confession in the USA isn't worth anything in the rest of the world. We all seen the figures about how many people would rather plead guilty for a crime they didn't do in order to avoid the life-destroying sentences. So a confession just doesn't hold any true value. But even when really guilty (let's assume they are guilty of simplicity) this is just pure profit. And I bet a couple of those non-knowing jury members found it a nice opportunity to fuck something un-american.