Oracle sued Google last year for infringing on copyrights and patents related to Java, which Oracle acquired along with Sun Microsystems.
Oracle’s case got stronger this week when Florian Mueller, a intellectual property activist, proved that Google copied at least 43 Android source files from Java.
With this development, lawsuit becomes a simple and easy case to prove when Google used 37 Android source files marked “PROPRIETARY / CONFIDENTIAL” and “DO NOT DISTRIBUTE” by Oracle / Sun and at least six more files in Froyo and Gingerbread that appear to have been decompiled from Java 2 Standard Edition and redistributed under the Apache open source license without permission.
This is not a threat to Android lovers or Google alone, but billions of dollars of various handset manufacturers (including HTC, Samsung) may land into trouble as well.
Though, there are reports that these copied files were just for test and are not important for the core OS, however, Oracle seems confident of winning the case.
In case Oracle wins, it might ask Google for a per-handset royalty on every Android handset shipped.
For further reading: Engadget, ZDNet, Ars Techncia
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