January 05, 2009

No clear sign of settlement in Oracle-SAP suit

SAP admits that its TomorrowNow subsidiary had made some 'inappropriate downloads' but continues to fight the legal battle against Oracle

A document filed last week by SAP indicates there may be no quick settlement to its rancorous legal entanglement with rival enterprise software maker Oracle, even though SAP admits that some of Oracle's claims about its former subsidiary TomorrowNow are true.

In its lengthy response to Oracle's even more voluminous third amended complaint in the case, SAP concedes some Oracle claims but overall denies liability and demands a jury trial. A judge has already set a February 2010 date for such a proceeding.

Oracle filed suit SAP in March 2007, charging that workers at SAP's now-shuttered subsidiary TomorrowNow, a provider of support for Oracle's PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards and Siebel applications, had illegally downloaded material from Oracle's support systems and used them to court Oracle customers.

Oracle has also claimed that with the knowledge of SAP's executive board, SAP workers "made thousands of copies of Oracle's underlying software applications on its computer systems," and that SAP used Oracle's code for training, customer service and "generally to support a business model that was illegal to its core."

SAP's alleged behavior amounted to "corporate theft on the grandest scale," Oracle has said.

Meanwhile, SAP has acknowledged that TomorrowNow staff members made some "inappropriate downloads" from Oracle's Web site and that Oracle's software remained in TomorrowNow's systems. SAP has also strongly rejected Oracle's claims of a broader pattern of wrongdoing.

SAP restated its overall position in the most recent filing. "Because Plaintiffs have publicly admitted that TN had the right, in some instances, to access Plaintiffs' computers and use the Software and Support Materials therein, this case (once parsed of Plaintiffs' rhetoric) is simply about whether [TomorrowNow] exceeded its rights to access Plaintiffs' computers, whether that harmed Plaintiffs, and, if so, by how much," one passage reads.

"Plaintiffs rely on snippets and excerpts of documents to construct a tale of intrigue, when the truth is far simpler, though less exciting -- SAP bought TN with the hope that providing [Oracle] customers a choice in maintenance might give them the time to consider alternative, and better, enterprise software," another section states.

But SAP's filing also confirms some Oracle claims.

"Defendants admit that TN, on behalf of its customers, has downloaded and stored a large quantity of Software and Support Materials, further admit that downloads occurred of materials as to which TN did not have confirmation that the customer in whose name the downloads were being conducted had rights to such materials, and further admit that TN used those materials for customer support," one passage reads.

Close

On Twitter now

Applications

Powered by Twitter

On Twitter now

additional resources
White Paper - How to Improve Delivery of Advanced Web Applications

White Paper

Virtual Workforce: The Key to Expanding The Business While Cutting Costs

Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.

Go inside:
The three-step approach to making a virtual workforce a reality.
The four flavors of client virtualization technologies.
The three key initiatives that solve IT challenges.
Download now »
White Paper: Successfully Secure Your Wireless LAN With Wi-Fi firewalls.

White Paper

Addressing Linux Threats Leveraging Fewer Resources

The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.

Download now »
White Paper - The 2009 Handbook of Application Delivery

White Paper

The 2009 Handbook of Application Delivery

Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.

Download now »
White Paper - Is Your Backup System Outdated?

White Paper

Mid-range Storage Considerations

A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.

Download now »

Applications Newsletter

Stay informed of the latest news and technologies around application, project and performance management.

White paper

Turn Your IT Department into a Lean Machine

Like any valuable resource, IT is a terrible thing to waste. But by applying the same lean techniques that have been used to streamline manufacturing processes, IT departments can reduce costs, improve performance and better manage resources.

Download now! »

Podcast

Economy Makes Automation a Must-Have Tech for 2009

Stephen Elliot, vice president of strategy for CA's Infrastructure Management and Data Center Automation business unit, explains why difficult economic times drive the need for simplified management capabilities and advanced automation tools.

Listen now! »

White paper

What You Need to Know About Virtual Infrastructure Management - Now

According to a recent study CA conducted with 300 CIOs and top IT executives, 64 percent of respondents say they've already invested in virtualization, and the other 36 percent reported that they plan to invest in virtualization.

Download now! »

Webcast

Leveraging Virtualization and Process Automation

In this video learn about process automation in a virtualized world. How CA and VMware are enabling enterprise datacenter automation.

View now! »
©1994-2010 Infoworld, Inc.