A setback for Google against Oracle

Posted May 15, 2014 18:36 UTC (Thu) by iabervon (subscriber, #722)
In reply to: A setback for Google against Oracle by tjc
Parent article: A setback for Google against Oracle

This is "could have" in the sense of "was able to, but didn't, and wouldn't have been guilty if they had" not "might have, and is guilty on the unproven guess that they did". The claim in question is a defence; attempting to prove it isn't the prosecution's job.

A setback for Google against Oracle

Posted May 15, 2014 18:50 UTC (Thu) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link] (5 responses)

Thanks for the explanation.

A setback for Google against Oracle

Posted May 17, 2014 22:04 UTC (Sat) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link] (4 responses)

And by the way, there is no accusation of a crime here. There is no guilt, innocence, or prosecution. It's just a dispute over whether Google owes Oracle royalties.

A setback for Google against Oracle

Posted May 18, 2014 0:47 UTC (Sun) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link] (3 responses)

Is copyright violation a crime?

if it isn't then all the fuss about 'Internet Piracy' and getting the government involved in investigating and prosecuting pirates is wrong

A setback for Google against Oracle

Posted May 18, 2014 1:09 UTC (Sun) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link] (2 responses)

Is copyright violation a crime?

Sometimes it is. I've heard it has to be fairly egregious, and I can't think of a case where someone was prosecuted for it. All the famous cases are just civil disputes between copyright holder and copier.

A setback for Google against Oracle

Posted May 18, 2014 1:13 UTC (Sun) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link] (1 responses)

well, the helicopter swat raid on Kim Dotcom was a government operation. The freezing of the megaupload finances was at the bidding of the US government.

Domain Names have been seized by the FBI for piracy.

how many examples do you need?

A setback for Google against Oracle

Posted May 18, 2014 1:58 UTC (Sun) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link]

how many examples do you need?

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that because I couldn't think of a case that none existed. I only meant to illustrate how common prosecutions for criminal copyright infringements are compared to civil cases like the instant one.

I maintain that the vast majority of debate over copyright concerns civil duty, not crime. The examples you gave fit my impression that criminal prosecution is reserved for egregious cases of massive copying as opposed to individual companies copying other individual companies' work.