Quite. If Oracle is after a set license fee per android device sold, then these copyright infringements are not going to get Oracle anywhere close to that - Google wasn't actually using this code in the first place, and it isn't on any existing phones out there either (i.e. Oracle won't get some sort of deal where they get a set amount of money per android phone out in the wild). See this is a case where some company by accident stripped copyright off of some *OPEN SOURCE* file and posted it on their website. If that means Google is going to end up being millions of dollars to Oracle, I'll claim here and now that we'll see a mad scrambling to check all nooks and crannies of all websites in an attempt to leech millions from tons of companies that no doubt accidentally did the same thing. i.e. I don't believe *AT ALL* this is going to lead to a big cash payout for Oracle, and thus I'd say if these are all the breaches that were found, Oracle might as well scrap 'copyright stuff' from their case.
NB: One reason Google does not want to pay a per-install fee is that the entire Android model just doesn't work that way. Google is reporting Android activations for a reason - they have no clue how many android installs there are. If you want to flash a nexus one with a new version, you can do that. If you want to flash an iPhone 2G with android, you can do that too. Google doesn't (want to) know that you're doing this. Want to make an e-reader based on android? Making 100,000 units? Google doesn't need to know. Thus, paying a set fee per install to Oracle isn't just a case of a lot of money, it would also mean that simply downloading the android core is no longer possible without registering your intents with google. NB2: Unless you live in the US, there is absolutely no snowball's chance in hell that accidentally hosting an already open source file with the wrong headers is going to lead to a lot of legal pain for you. If you are notified and you fix it (i.e. stop hosting it) within a reasonable timeframe, you should be fine. DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer. (Even in the US I doubt you're going to get nailed to the cross for it, but then again in the US the legal system for this sort of thing is principally a farce, as you can win almost any case by throwing enough money at it). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
