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Larry Ellison

SAP AG must pay Oracle Corp $1.3 billion for software theft, a jury decided, awarding damages that could be the largest-ever for copyright infringement.

The decision, by a U.S. district court jury in Oakland California, drew a gasp from the courtroom and prompted hugs and handshakes among Oracle’s legal team, which has pursued their case for years…

While SAP could appeal, Oracle attorney David Boies said, that would raise the possibility of a retrial. “If I were SAP, and I’m not, but if I were SAP, I’m not sure I would want to have another trial,” Boies said.

At the outset of the trial, the German company acknowledged that its TomorrowNow subsidiary had wrongfully downloaded millions of Oracle’s files.

With the admission of liability, the issue before the jury was how much Oracle was owed in damages. SAP said no more $40 million, while Oracle at least $1.65 billion…

The U.S. government is also conducting a criminal investigation into the events surrounding TomorrowNow but has not disclosed details. SAP said it has been cooperating with Department of Justice investigators.

Wonder what would be the realistic chance of reducing the penalty for a crime you already admitted to?




  1. justicegustine says:

    SAP should pay me for having to use it’s gawdawful software.

    Hate it.

  2. brian t says:

    Does this mean that Leo Apotheker can come out of hiding? I think HP would like their CEO to be able to show his face in public …

  3. foobar says:

    Larry will use the money to buy himself 20 charisma points, a second personal melanoma surgeon, an injection of anti-gland juice, and a new mail order bride from Victoria’s Secret.

  4. MikeN says:

    I thought downloading files was legal?

  5. jbenson2 says:

    #1 – Perfect comment. SAP should also pay their users for having to suffer through days and days for useless training to run SAP which eventually drove many companies into receivership.

    One of the worst programs out there, with the sleaziest of sleazy sales groups promising lie after lie.

    Too bad SAP wasn’t hit with at least triple damages. May SAP rot in hell.

  6. deowll says:

    If the users hate the product how do they stay in business?

  7. Greg Allen says:

    Now it is time to go after some Asian companies… especially China and India.

    In my travels around Asia, it seemed like piracy of American intellectual property was shameless and everywhere.

    Yet, these same countries make FREIGHTER LOADS OF CASH selling to open American markets.

  8. jbenson2 says:

    #6 – Many of them don’t. Our selection committee narrowed the choice down to 3 programs. SAP was one of them. But after examining the research, we were astounded at how many companies tried SAP and went out of business. Fortunately, we went with a program that was better suited for our needs.

  9. truth hurts says:

    Now Larry can buy another boat

  10. Unhappy SAP victim says:

    Good bye and good riddance.

    #1 has it so right.

    Oh, no! We’ll have to get rid of all of those ‘consultants’ from India now!

  11. paulg says:

    Best joke I ever heard regarding SAP ..

    Did you know that SAP stands for:

    SELECT ANOTHER PRODUCT !!!

    I heard this from some Gillette employees at a backup conference once in Boston ….

  12. hmbterry says:

    Oracle stands for One Rich Asshole Called Larry Ellison

  13. Yankinwaoz says:

    Gotta love SAP’s logic. Picture it this way. A bank robber is convicted of robbing a bank. So he says to the judge “How about if I give back the money I stole and you let me go home?”

  14. derspankster says:

    I suffered as an SAP user for almost 10 years. Drove me to early retirement.

  15. justicegustine says:

    @11, I call it Suck Ass Program. And I am only an end user, not even an administrator.


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