Judge Alsup orders Oracle, Google to disclose paid advocates

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/name-your-shills-judge-orders-oracle-google/

by ben1040 • 14 years ago

89 25 14 years ago

I've been getting this feeling lately every time Alsup steps up like this. At first I couldn't quite put my finger on it. it was more than just "finally some sanity for that patent stuff."

I figured it out today. When Alsup shows up, its like suddenly there's an adult in the room.

benologist2• 14 years ago

I think he's going to be sorely disappointed - Google doesn't have to pay anyone, they're one of the easy categories tech blogs ride for easy traffic and this case has provided especially good fodder for them to convert into ad impressions.

joe_the_user3• 14 years ago

Uh, Alsop has to issue order for both parties but the implicit target is Oracle and some would claim, Florian Mueller. http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/07/judge-hey-oracle-and-google...

benologist2• 14 years ago

Mueller outed himself 4 months ago so it seems a bit unlikely that he'd be the target of an order now. It does make a nice hook for the tech rags though.

nitrogen• 14 years ago

I wonder if somewhere, out there, is a blog with the exact opposite comment: "Finally, Pamela Jones will be shown to be the pack of IBM lawyers she really is..." I assume that for every opinion one can have, there's someone out there who disagrees with it.

danso• 14 years ago

The OP's author actually just tweeted that he might be on the list because he was an intern at Google during the period in question...however, you're being too cynical yet not cynical enough...it's possible that journalists cover a hot company to draw traffic AND it's possible that said company can exert influence in a way that such coverage is more slanted than it might be otherwise.

joe_the_user3• 14 years ago

I wasn't alone when I called Florian Mueller an Oracle shill way back when.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4014814

Now things are getting really exciting.

ConstantineXVI• 14 years ago

For what it's worth, PJ directly says[0] Groklaw has "no financial ties to anybody".

[0] http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20120807180515808

batgaijin• 14 years ago

If they mention Groklaw...

jerf• 14 years ago

Then I will go back and upmod everything you wrote two days ago. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4342363

What will you do if they don't?

SwellJoe• 14 years ago

I'd believe that Oracle has employed people to attack PJ's integrity, before I'd believe that PJ is in the employ of Google.

There's a problem with making these kinds of vague (and not so vague) accusations against PJ in a place like this. Many of us remember the SCO v. IBM case, and have been following Groklaw for years. SCO tried slinging the same kind of mud at PJ you're slinging now. None of it stuck, because it was obviously unfounded and obviously disingenuous.

madrona• 14 years ago

I've noticed that the attacks are quite vague and consist of demanding some sort of proof that PJ is not engaged this or that (e.g. eating babies.) Also, there's some ridiculous notion that she hides behind a pseudonym because she uses her initials as her nom de plume. See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4014768 , you might want to select the page text so you can decipher the downvoted comments.

Alterlife• 14 years ago

Does it matter? Articles and commentary shouldn't influence the outcome of the case.

Patent Law isn't a matter of public opinion... or is it?

malandrew• 14 years ago

Law, in general, is a matter of public opinion.

fleitz• 14 years ago

And if the opinion of the majority doesn't work for your case, you can seek an appeal to the court of social justice for the opinion of the minority.

vibrunazo2• 14 years ago

> "be of use on appeal or on any remand to make clear whether any treatise, article, commentary, or analysis on the issues posed by this case are possibly influenced by financial relationships to the parties or counsel."

I spent a few minutes googling around for "remand" but I still cannot understand what this means. Could anyone please translate this legalese and explain why exactly does Alsup wants them to disclose paid bloggers?

guelo3• 14 years ago

When an appellate court sends a case back down to a trial judge to reconsider a decision or retry the case.

guelo3• 14 years ago

I would love to find out if there's any paid influencing going on here at HN or reddit. I would not be surprised.

jrockway• 14 years ago

What sort of paid influencing do you think would happen on HN?

guelo3• 14 years ago

Just general defending of a company's positions. A good reputation among engineers is very valuable to these companies.

microtherion• 14 years ago

Wonder if they mention the EFF, which has received at least $1 million from Google this year: http://epic.org/privacy/ftc/googlebuzz/EPIC_Google_Buzz_Sett...

It's been argued that such class action settlement, where the defendant essentially gets to pick which advocacy organizations they "settle" with, more or less amount to disguised funding of such organisations: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4316764

Judge Alsup orders Oracle, Google to disclose paid advocates

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