All this time we’ve spent in limbo awaiting the EU’s OK on the Oracle-Sun merger — the OK that officially arrived this week — the frustrating assumption for Java fans has been that the hold-up wasn’t even related to Java, though it would have a huge effect on the platform. The EU’s official press release approving the merger doesn’t necessarily belie that impression, with much of the up-front matter focusing on the MySQL drama. But the release does indicate that the EU did at least consider the impact of the merger on Java, and came up with following conclusion:The Commission also examined the potential impact of Oracle’s acquisition of the intellectual property (IP) rights connected to the Java development platform in the context of the proposed transaction. It found that Oracle’s ability to deny its competitors access to important IP rights would be limited by the functioning of the Java Community Process (JCP) which is a participative process for developing and revising Java technology specifications involving numerous other important players in the IT industry, including Oracle’s competitors. The Commission also found that Oracle would not have the incentives to restrict its competitors’ access to the Java IP rights as this would jeopardise the gains derived from broad adoption of the Java platform and therefore the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns in respect of the licensing of IP rights connected with Java.So, there you have it: Oracle won’t be able to use its control of Java to harm competitors, because of the binding agreements surrounding the JCP; plus, it wouldn’t be in their interests to do so anyway. So, hooray for love and happiness! The question: do you buy it? Corporations are often cleverer that the bureaucracies that regulate them: do you think the Oracle sharpies are well and truly hemmed in, or that maintaining an open Java is in their self-interest? Or will the chicanery begin? In what may or may not be related news, Java’s creator is in mourning. Technology Industry