SAP pushes for settlement talks with Oracle
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(InfoWorld) - SAP AG has asked a U.S. court to order settlement talks in its legal battle with Oracle Corp., arguing that Oracle exaggerated its claims against the German software maker. Oracle said it opposed such talks and accused SAP of trying to "make this case go away." In court papers Tuesday, SAP picked several holes in Oracle's lawsuit,Â which was filed in March against SAP and its TomorrowNow Inc. subsidiary. The suit charged the companies with posing as Oracle customers and illegally downloading customer support materials from an Oracle Web site. Oracle's version of what happened is "dramatic but inaccurate," SAP argued in a joint filing submitted ahead of a case management conference scheduled for Sept. 4. It said Oracle ignored several factors in its complaint, including thatÂ TomorrowNow was entitled to access the Oracle Web site because it was doing work for Oracle customers, and that none of the material was downloaded by SAP itself. "This case, in short, is about whether TomorrowNow exceeded its customers' rights in downloading certain materials. That is not a matter of 'corporate theft on a grand scale,' as Oracle says in its complaint, but a matter of contract interpretation," SAP wrote. It asked the court to order the two sides into an "alternative dispute resolution" process, which would seek to settle the case outside the courtroom. It wants the process to begin in a few months, mediated by a magistrate judge, and for discovery -- the process of gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses -- to continue in the meantime. "As with most cases, prompt resolution of this case is in the best interests of all concerned," SAP said. Oracle was against the idea, however. It said SAP has given no evidence that it never received the documents downloaded by TomorrowNow. What's more, the downloads that Oracle has uncovered so far may be only the "tip of the iceberg." Settlement talks would be premature until Oracle has determined the extent of SAP's illegal conduct, Oracle said. SAP has "one obvious goal: to make this case go away without meaningful discovery into what it really did," the company said. The positions are laid out in documents filed ahead of a case management conference scheduled for Sept. 4. Oracle portrays the case as highly complex and requiring lengthy discovery, including depositions from dozens of customers. It is seeking a trial date in September 2009. SAP says the scope of the case should be narrower and that it is unnecessary to interview so many customers. It wants a trial date of February 2009 or earlier. The issues are likely to be discussed further at the case management conference on Sept. 4, and the court will issue an order with its decisions after that, SAP said. SAP posted a copy of the joint filing on its Web site. Â
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A U.S. district court judge has ordered that&#160;Oracle&#39;s lawsuit against SAP and its TomorrowNow subsidiary&#160;be sent to mediation, according to a court document posted on www.tnlawsuit.com, a Web site SAP set up for the case.SAP spokesman Andy Kendzie declined to comment in much detail Thursday about Judge Martin J. Jenkins&#39; ruling, which occurred after a case management conference on Tuesday, according to the document.&quot;Our preference had always been that we explored mediation,&quot; Kendzie said.Oracle filed suit against SAP and TomorrowNow last year, charging that TomorrowNow employees illegally downloaded data from a secure Oracle support Web site, and used it to court Oracle&#39;s customers. The initial complaint alleges that &quot;corporate theft on a grand scale&quot; had occurred.SAP has said TomorrowNow was authorized to download materials from Oracle&#39;s Web site on behalf of TomorrowNow&#39;s customers, but also acknowledged &quot;some inappropriate downloads of fixes and support documents occurred at TomorrowNow.&quot; SAP has asserted that this information remained in TomorrowNow&#39;s systems and that SAP itself did not gain access to Oracle&#39;s intellectual property.TomorrowNow provides third-party support for Oracle&#39;s PeopleSoft, Siebel, and J.D. Edwards software products.Oracle could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
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Oracle Corp. chief Larry Ellison is girding for a showdown with business applications software leader SAP AG and becoming more friendly with frequent rival IBM Corp. as his software company seeks higher profits from its recently completed takeover of PeopleSoft Inc.
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InfoWorld - Responding to a&#160;lawsuit filed by Oracle&#160;earlier this year, SAP admitted on Tuesday that its TomorrowNow division in the U.S. made some &quot;inappropriate downloads&quot; from an Oracle Web site but said SAP never had access to the material.
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A group of PeopleSoft shareholders has asked that a Delaware judge order the company&#39;s board to negotiate with rival software maker Oracle, which is trying to acquire PeopleSoft for $8.
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A U.S. district court judge has ordered that&#160;Oracle&#39;s lawsuit against SAP and its TomorrowNow subsidiary&#160;be sent to mediation, according to a court document posted on www.tnlawsuit.com, a Web site SAP set up for the case.
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Responding to aÂ lawsuit filed by OracleÂ earlier this year, SAP admitted on Tuesday that its TomorrowNow division in the U.S. made some "inappropriate downloads" from an Oracle Web site but said SAP never had access to the material.
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Oracle is concerned PeopleSoft customers might abandon maintenance contracts that could help it spend more on new software products to compete with SAP AG, the world's biggest business software maker.
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Oracle Corp.  is in merger talks with other technology companies as it awaits the outcome of its &#36;9.2 billion hostile takeover bid for rival software maker PeopleSoft Inc. .
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(InfoWorld) - Responding to aÂ lawsuit filed by OracleÂ earlier this year, SAP admitted on Tuesday that its TomorrowNow division in the U.S. made some "inappropriate downloads" from an Oracle Web site but said SAP never had access to the material. In anÂ about face from his previous position, SAP CEO Henning Kagermann also said Tuesday that his company is open to a possible settlement with Oracle, which has charged SAP with "corporate theft on a grand scale." TomorrowNow was authorized to download materials from Oracle's Web site on behalf of customers, SAP said, but acknowledged that there were some inappropriate downloads of software patches and support documents. SAP announced new oversights at TomorrowNow, including the appointment of a new executive chairman, to avoid such problems in the future. "Even a single inappropriate download is unacceptable from my perspective," Kagermann said in a statement. "We regret very much that this occurred." The U.S. Department of Justice has asked for documents related to the case from SAP and TomorrowNow, SAP said, and the companies will cooperate with the request. Oracle filed its surprise lawsuit against SAP on March 22. It alleged that TomorrowNow staff hacked into a support Web site for users of Oracle's PeopleSoft and JD Edwards applications and downloaded vast amounts of content, which SAP then used to offer Oracle customers cut-rate support services. SAP had until midnight Pacific Time on Monday night to file its response in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, which is hearing the case, and filed the documents shortly before the deadline. SAP will consider all options in the Oracle case including a possible settlement, Kagermann said in a conference call Tuesday. That marks an abrupt turnaround from April, when Kagermann said during the company's quarterly earnings call: "We have no intention to settle; why should we?" The legal proceedings will likely have no impact on SAP's business in the U.S., Kagermann said Tuesday, vowing to continue its Safe Passage campaign to win customers from Oracle. The company launched a Web site where it will publish information related to the case, including court filings and a time line of events. SAP also appointed a new executive chairman to manage TomorrowNow's operations and oversee compliance programs. Mark White, chief operating officer of SAP America, will take on the role. TomorrowNow workers will also get additional training to ensure they understand company's policies. TomorrowNow CEO Andrew Nelson will report to White. TomorrowNow and other third-party support providers rely on their customers to provide passwords to access support materials from Oracle in order to make fixes, SAP said, suggesting it is a normal practice. But it reiterated that some inappropriate downloads did occur, without providing more information. TomorrowNow provides maintenance and support to customers using Oracle's PeopleSoft and Siebel applications. SAP acquired TomorrowNow in 2005, around the same time Oracle closed its acquisition of PeopleSoft, which had previously bought JD Edwards. The market for third-party support services for ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) applications has emerged in recent years. Companies such as TomorrowNow cater to customers using older versions of the software and charge lower maintenance fees than Oracle. Oracle is also in the third-party maintenance market, supporting SAP's older R/3 applications through a partnership with Systime Computers. The original charges in Oracle's lawsuit included violations of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and of California's Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, along with unfair competition charges. On June 1 Oracle filed an amended complaint , adding copyright infringement and breach of contract claims. The complaints were filed against SAP, SAP America, TomorrowNow, and 50 unnamed individuals Oracle said were SAP employees. Oracle said it discovered the access to its Customer Connection Web site after noting periods of heavy download activity late last year. The vendor claims it found over 10,000 unauthorized downloads of its software and support materials, which it traced to an IP (Internet Protocol) address at the headquarters of TomorrowNow in Bryan, Texas. That IP address was connected directly to SAP's computer network, Oracle alleged. The TomorrowNow staff accessed the support site by pretending to be Oracle customers, according to the suit. For one of those customers, Honeywell International, Oracle said it had connected many of the downloads to a particular TomorrowNow employee, Wade Walden, who previously worked at PeopleSoft. Â
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Executive handbags A slanging match has erupted between Oracle and SAP as the Silicon Valley giant tries to burnish its business apps credectials.â¦
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SAP wants case narrowed to TomorrowNow's conduct, asks for mediator; Oracle says scope of case requires full investigation.
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The business software maker hopes to prod rival Oracle into raising its current bid by $1.5 billion.
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Software maker SAP AG   admitted a subsidiary had carried out "inappropriate downloads"  of documents belonging to archrival Oracle Corp but said on  Tuesday SAP itself had not had access to that material.
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Updated: Oracle receives tender offers for more than 60 percent of the outstanding PeopleSoft shares and calls for talks to reach a formal buyout agreement.
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The Department of Justice took Oracle to court in May, claiming that its acquisition of PeopleSoft would create a duopoly between it and market leader SAP in the enterprise applications market.
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The U.S. judge in a trade secrets case brought by Oracle Corp  against arch rival SAP AG  on Tuesday called for speedy resolution of the dispute and encouraged the sides to consider mediation.