Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

axios.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 232 posts

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#101

Post by coldpie »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #10
seren wrote: post #6

I did not follow every step, but assuming Oracle win this, will it also apply to Amazon proposing DocumentDB with the same API that MongoDB ?

Who even knows? If APIs are copyrighted and implementing them is a crime, Tim Berners-Lee might end up a billionaire.

I wonder who "invented" the blink tag? Or the other hundreds of thousands of APIs every web browser implements? And who is responsible for those browser API implementations shipped to millions end users in hundreds of thousands of products? If you thought patent trolling was bad, Oracle just turned that into a molehill.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#102

Post by sitkack »

vikingcaffiene wrote: post #2

IMO there's two ways to read this: either A) this is a baldly transparent attempt to "own the libs" and punish a company that the administration sees as a threat or B) they are too incompetent to understand the technical nuances of the case and are essentially morons. Maybe both? This administration can't be thrown out on their collective asses fast enough...

If Oracle wins it cements monopoly control of the computing ecosystem. Each megacorp will have their own API moat around their business. LEGO will be stoked.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#103

Post by nostromo »

vikingcaffiene wrote: post #2

IMO there's two ways to read this: either A) this is a baldly transparent attempt to "own the libs" and punish a company that the administration sees as a threat or B) they are too incompetent to understand the technical nuances of the case and are essentially morons. Maybe both? This administration can't be thrown out on their collective asses fast enough...

Google and Amazon both fucked up by weighing in on political campaigns.

And now they're shocked, shocked, that getting political with your monopolistic companies carries some political risk.

The solution is easy enough -- don't talk about politics at work -- and in particular not if you're the CEO.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#104

Post by cloakandswagger »

murph-almighty wrote: post #61
todd3834 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At an earlier stage in litigation, the Obama administration took a similar position, urging the Supreme Court not to accept Google's appeal. Am I understanding this correctly that this has been a bipartisan position?

At face value, maybe. But it's worth noting that this administration tried to stop the AT&T-Time Warner merger while suggesting that it would go through if Time Warner divested itself of CNN. I supported the action, but not the reasons why- it was a legislative hurdle that aimed to take out a source of journalism that was critical of the administration. That in turn has colored my opinion of any antitrust action this…

That has been a common pushback to many media/broadcasting mergers though. It presents a real threat to freedom of the press when a broadcasting company absorbs a media company as they can more easily suppress stories that don't serve their interests.

CNN being critical of the administration is immaterial (practically all large media outlets are). The concern from the administration seems justified rather than malicious in this case.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#105

Post by matthewdgreen »

scarface74 wrote: post #13
vikingcaffiene wrote: post #2

IMO there's two ways to read this: either A) this is a baldly transparent attempt to "own the libs" and punish a company that the administration sees as a threat or B) they are too incompetent to understand the technical nuances of the case and are essentially morons. Maybe both? This administration can't be thrown out on their collective asses fast enough...

Does it matter? Every time without fail when I argue on HN that government involvement in tech is usually negative I get downvoted to oblivion. But then when the same government interferes and is on the "wrong" side of popular geek opinion there is an uproar.

What this case demonstrates is that the fantasy of government-free tech is just that, a fantasy. Governments are going to be increasingly involved in issues that only techies used to care about, and it behooves us to make sure that involvement is as benign as possible.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#107

Post by skrowl »

jorblumesea wrote: post #99
chrisco255 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Partisanship cuts both ways and if you're too ignorant to see your own bias and through the narrative spin on your own side of the aisle, then you're like a fish that doesn't know its wet.

If you honestly believe that Trump is in any way on the same "corruption level" as any previous sitting President you're delusional. I'm sorry that reality is getting in the way of the narrative, but it's fairly obvious that he's far worse than any side has elected within living memory. Maybe Nixon is a distant second?

Partisanship bias confirmed!

Obama had plenty of evidence of corruption, and that's just ONE past president.

- Benghazi

- Ordering IRS to target conservative groups

- AP Phone Records Scandal

- Obamacare / You can keep your doctor

- NSA PRISM Surveillance System

- ATF Fast and Furious

- Rosengate

- Holder committing perjury multiple times

- VP Biden forcing Ukraine to fire that prosecutor...

If you haven't heard of some or all of these, you need to bust out of your echo chamber / comfort zone and start looking at more diverse news sources.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#108

Post by cloakandswagger »

djannzjkzxn wrote: post #70
quotemstr wrote: post #39

Is there any doubt that this is some kind of score-settling? Republicans hate Google. I don't think people inside the SV bubble appreciate just how intense this hatred has become. You know the seething, implacable anger, that bile that comes up out of your stomach when you think of a politician you don't like? A lot of republicans feel that way about Google. This hatred doesn't come out of nowhere. Google's leaders c…

I’m really skeptical that Republicans know or care about politics in Google’s work culture. I think the only big story to come out about it, the James Damore one, mainly got discussed from a gender angle and most Republican politicians would prefer if that conversation didn’t happen at all.

They're acutely aware of the power big tech holds and how politically devastating it would be if Google, Facebook, et al started to regulate their platforms in a politically biased way.

That's why the idea of regulating social media and search products as public utilities arose, and why Facebook is currently walking on eggshells to appear neutral and apolitical.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#109

Post by deathanatos »

flomo wrote: post #94
deathanatos wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Windows, whose APIs are from OS/2's Presentation Management layer. And Linux/OS X, many of whose APIs are from Unix! I don't know where Oracle thinks the madness should end, and I don't think they care.

OS/2 I think was visa-versa, but IBM and Microsoft were in bed with each other so that was all contractual. You guys need to find an example where one company offered licensing and the other simply refused to negotiate.

Ah, I think you're right about the OS/2 one. (I did some researching, and it seems like it actually might have been developed by MS, which I did not know. I knew there was some collaboration, but I thought it was only for the ability to run Windows apps natively in OS/2.)

> You guys need to find an example where one company offered licensing and the other simply refused to negotiate.

Part of the trouble with this, I think, is that prior to this case, nobody thought there was a need to license this, since it wasn't covered by copyright by any sane reading of the law. (And I still think it isn't, and the appellate court erred in overturning the district court.)

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#110

Post by sixothree »

nostromo wrote: post #103
vikingcaffiene wrote: post #2

IMO there's two ways to read this: either A) this is a baldly transparent attempt to "own the libs" and punish a company that the administration sees as a threat or B) they are too incompetent to understand the technical nuances of the case and are essentially morons. Maybe both? This administration can't be thrown out on their collective asses fast enough...

Google and Amazon both fucked up by weighing in on political campaigns. And now they're shocked, shocked , that getting political with your monopolistic companies carries some political risk. The solution is easy enough -- don't talk about politics at work -- and in particular not if you're the CEO.

Is it too much to expect our government to not play political games?
Post reply on HN