There has been a lot of news around the suit filed by Oracle on SAP for Grad Theft by its TomorrowNow operations, i had a chance to rdo a quick read of the complaint and have found a variety of interesting blog posts on the topic, below i am just going to pull out excerpts from various posts on the topic:

Brief of the Complaint:This case is about corporate theft on a grand scale, committed by the largest German software company - a conglomerate known as SAP. Oracle is a leading developer of database and applications software, and SAP is Oracle's largest enterprise applications software competitor.

Oracle brings this lawsuit after discovering that SAP is engaged in systematic, illegal access to - and taking from - Oracle's computerized customer support systems. Through this scheme, SAP has stolen thousands of proprietary, copyrighted software products and other confidential materials that Oracle developed to service its own support customers. SAP gained repeated and unauthorized access, in many cases by use of pretextual customer log-in credentials, to Oracle's proprietary, password-protected customer support website. From that website, SAP has copied and swept thousands of Oracle software products and other proprietary and confidential materials onto its own servers. As a result, SAP has compiled an illegal library of Oracle's copyrighted software code and other materials. This storehouse of stolen Oracle intellectual property enables SAP to offer cut rate support services to customers who use Oracle software, and to attempt to lure them to SAP's applications software platform and away from Oracle's. Through this Complaint, Oracle seeks to stop SAP's illegal intrusions and theft, to prevent SAP from using the materials it has illegally acquired to compete with Oracle, and to recover damages and attorneys' fees.

Source: Oracle

The lawsuit claims that SAP systematically stole software as part of a concerted effort to beat Oracle, etc. etc. But the real story is that TomorrowNow, which goes around taking over maintenance contracts from PeopleSoft, JDE, and Siebel customers - at 50 cents to the Oracle dollar - has finally gotten under Oracle's skin. Not surprising: cutting maintenance in half can save hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars a year for the company that's not buying into Oracle's Applications Unlimited or Fusion Applications strategy.

Why would Oracle care? - In the most recent quarter applications license revenue was $1.3 billion, maintenance was $2.3 billion. So you can assume that TomorrowNow is starting to make a dent in these numbers, and that's why Oracle finally filed suit.

But the real reason I have trouble with "essential" and "part of SAP's competitive strategy" is that SAP has been waiting since 2004 for this lawsuit, and set up a series of virtual and real walls between TomorrowNow and SAP in anticipation of this very kind of suit. If, as the suit alleges, there was some downloading from SAP or TomorrowNow computers, it was a rogue operation that in no way could have been as sanctioned by management. To assume anything else would be more than foolish - it would be just plain wrong.

I'm convinced more than ever that Oracle has no case against SAP and TomorrowNow, at least as constituted in the complaint as I read it. There may have been rogue operators doing unsanctioned downloads, but the case as it is written would wash out quickly in my court.

Source: Enterprise Anti-Matter.

It is a sad day for the industry. I was an expert witness for PeopleSoft during its suit against Oracle during the hostile takeover process. I saw the two sides spend over $ 250 million in legal fees. Customers suffered as both sides were distracted for a long time.

SAP needs to come down heavy on the alleged misuse, if true. I also hope Oracle does not overblow this in the media in the coming months. Third party maintenance is an important new trend in the enterprise software business. It could stall if customers get spooked by this. All the more reason to feel glum for the industry today.

Source: DealArchitect

The suit is the latest shot in the blood feud between tech's fiercest competitors, and it cements Ellison's reputation as a crafty opportunist who exploits rivals' weaknesses. "This is Larry Ellison at his finest," says Marc Benioff, CEO of salesforce.com, a former Ellison protégé. "He is a master at [using] The Art of War"-Chinese general Sun Tzu's sixth century B.C. primer on military strategy, which is much admired by Ellison.

SAP vows to defend itself aggressively and suggests the suit could be little more than a marketing ploy. "It wouldn't surprise me [that] they see creative ways to attack our business if they don't see a way to beat us in the marketplace," says Andrew J. Nelson, president of SAP's TomorrowNow Inc. unit. Indeed, in spite of Oracle's acquisitions of PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems, its estimated 12% market share in corporate applications last year is about the same as the totals of the three before they merged, according to industry consultant AMR Research. Meanwhile, SAP's share climbed from 19.5% in 2004 to nearly 22% in 2006.

Source: BusinessWeek

"SAP will not comment other than to make it clear to our customers, prospects, investors, employees and partners that SAP will aggressively defend against the claims made by Oracle in the lawsuit," the German software giant said in a prepared statement issued late Friday. "SAP will remain focused on delivering products and services -- including those from TomorrowNow -- that ensure success for our customers."

In a note to clients Friday, Merrill Lynch analyst Kash Rangan noted that SAP has been aggressively seeking to steal customers from Oracle's recently acquired companies. "TomorrowNow has been trying for more than two years to lure away Oracle's PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and Siebel customers, offering price breaks of about 50% under SAP's 'Safe Passage' program," he wrote.

Source: TheStreet

"While Oracle's case against SAP looks compelling on the surface, it is important to remember that we have not yet heard SAP's side of the story," JMP Securities analyst Pat Walravens said in a research note.

Scott Christie, a former U.S. prosecutor in charge of computer crimes, said a key in the case -- should the charges prove true -- will be whether it was individuals acting alone or if SAP had any role in the alleged actions.He also noted that these kinds of high-profile cases tend to draw the attention of federal prosecutors and said it would come as no surprise if the government opens a criminal case.

Scot Braunzell, head of cyber security for a consulting group that does security management for big corporations, agreed the latest salvo could result in criminal charges and that Oracle appeared to have a credible case.But he suggested that "rogue" individuals could be involved and asked why a company would engage in corporate espionage without doing a better job of covering its tracks."I would think that Oracle in its position right now would not file a complaint of this nature if they did not have credible forensic data," said Braunzell of Cyber Control Strategies."If this is going to be some type of corporate espionage, why would SAP come in using its own servers and its own network," he added. "That is a pretty pertinent question."

Source: Reuters

Prashanth Rai