nurbert
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 26, 2012
- 1,887
- 427
If youve been closely watching the
Oracle vs Google court fight, you
already know everything youre about
to read. If youre one of the many,
however, whove been keeping an
open ear but not checking forums every few hours for updates, consider
this a run-through of the battle for
Android code a battle that could
potentially have huge implications for
industry giants like Google, the entire smartphone market, and, of course,
the millions of smartphone consumers
worldwide. Android Code Whats the Big Deal? The controversy began when
somebody just happened to notice
that Android code looked an awful lot
like Java code. This would be no big
deal if Google (Androids developer)
owned Java, or if the code was open source (which means that anybody
can use it for any purpose). However,
Google doesnt own Java; Oracle owns Java and Oracle wasnt exactly ticked
to see their coding being used to
generate billions as the most popular
smartphone platform out there,
especially since they werent seeing a
dime from the platforms popularity. Oracle decided it was lawsuit time.
They sued Google for copyright
infringement, stating that they owned
the rights to Java and all code therein.
Consider it like this if you rent a book
for your Kindle, take entire chunks of text from it and then insert those text
chunks into a book which you publish
as your own, youre committing
copyright infringement. That text was
copyrighted by the original author,
and you have no right to use it. This is Oracles standpoint regarding Android
code Google had no right to market
it as their own since they did not write
the code in the first place. The battle has gone on for years,
recently making it to court. Die-hard
techies have been watching, eyes
peeled, waiting for a verdict. In May,
they got one a federal court judge
decided unanimously that Google had committed no copyright infringement
when it developed Android code. What the Android Code Debate Means for You? Since the judge decided that Google
did nothing wrong, as it sits the entire
debacle means a whole lot of nothing
to consumers. However, were not
underestimating Oracle, and we
wouldnt be surprised to see new lawsuits popping up in the future. What this lawsuit could have meant to
consumers, however, is a whole
different story. If it was decided that
Android was essentially created
illegally, Google would potentially
have had to pay a huge amount in royalties to Oracle. Whether a complete
revamp of Android would be in the
cards is anybodys guess, but it would
be one potential outcome. Another would be that Android would
exist as is, but every new bell and
whistle, every new smartphone; every
aspect would require a royalty
payment to Oracle. This is where
things would get sticky for handset carriers, manufacturers and
consumers all those royalties would
ultimately add up to big, big increases
in the costs of carrying, producing and
using an Android device. Seeing as
how Android is currently the most popular and widely used platform out
there, this could have devastating
effects on the market. Thankfully, for now, no such royalties
are necessary, and you can keep on
falling in love with each new yummy-
sounding Android version without
worrying about the dent it might make
in your wallet. Author: Darren Wall aka Prepay is a
technology enthusiast who writes
about smartphones, applications,
games and the latest mobile
technology news for the Pre Pay As You Go Blog.
SOURCE
Oracle vs Google court fight, you
already know everything youre about
to read. If youre one of the many,
however, whove been keeping an
open ear but not checking forums every few hours for updates, consider
this a run-through of the battle for
Android code a battle that could
potentially have huge implications for
industry giants like Google, the entire smartphone market, and, of course,
the millions of smartphone consumers
worldwide. Android Code Whats the Big Deal? The controversy began when
somebody just happened to notice
that Android code looked an awful lot
like Java code. This would be no big
deal if Google (Androids developer)
owned Java, or if the code was open source (which means that anybody
can use it for any purpose). However,
Google doesnt own Java; Oracle owns Java and Oracle wasnt exactly ticked
to see their coding being used to
generate billions as the most popular
smartphone platform out there,
especially since they werent seeing a
dime from the platforms popularity. Oracle decided it was lawsuit time.
They sued Google for copyright
infringement, stating that they owned
the rights to Java and all code therein.
Consider it like this if you rent a book
for your Kindle, take entire chunks of text from it and then insert those text
chunks into a book which you publish
as your own, youre committing
copyright infringement. That text was
copyrighted by the original author,
and you have no right to use it. This is Oracles standpoint regarding Android
code Google had no right to market
it as their own since they did not write
the code in the first place. The battle has gone on for years,
recently making it to court. Die-hard
techies have been watching, eyes
peeled, waiting for a verdict. In May,
they got one a federal court judge
decided unanimously that Google had committed no copyright infringement
when it developed Android code. What the Android Code Debate Means for You? Since the judge decided that Google
did nothing wrong, as it sits the entire
debacle means a whole lot of nothing
to consumers. However, were not
underestimating Oracle, and we
wouldnt be surprised to see new lawsuits popping up in the future. What this lawsuit could have meant to
consumers, however, is a whole
different story. If it was decided that
Android was essentially created
illegally, Google would potentially
have had to pay a huge amount in royalties to Oracle. Whether a complete
revamp of Android would be in the
cards is anybodys guess, but it would
be one potential outcome. Another would be that Android would
exist as is, but every new bell and
whistle, every new smartphone; every
aspect would require a royalty
payment to Oracle. This is where
things would get sticky for handset carriers, manufacturers and
consumers all those royalties would
ultimately add up to big, big increases
in the costs of carrying, producing and
using an Android device. Seeing as
how Android is currently the most popular and widely used platform out
there, this could have devastating
effects on the market. Thankfully, for now, no such royalties
are necessary, and you can keep on
falling in love with each new yummy-
sounding Android version without
worrying about the dent it might make
in your wallet. Author: Darren Wall aka Prepay is a
technology enthusiast who writes
about smartphones, applications,
games and the latest mobile
technology news for the Pre Pay As You Go Blog.
SOURCE
