Is there a there there, in the Oracle suit?

Both Josh Greenbaum and Nick Carr have reviewed Oracle’s 42-page filing against SAP/TomorrowNow, and both reach the same conclusion:

There’s no there there.

From Nick:

I sat down this morning with a cup of coffee or four and read through the 43 pages of Oracle’s lawsuit against SAP. It makes for fascinating reading, but I was disappointed to discover that the alleged skullduggery doesn’t quite live up to the hype of the complaint’s memorable first sentence: “This case is about corporate theft on a grand scale, committed by the largest German software company – a conglomerate known as SAP.” “Grand scale” feels like an overstatement, and despite the hint of corporate jingoism in that opening sentence, Oracle doesn’t present any hard evidence that the scheme went beyond one SAP subsidiary in the very American state of Texas.

From Josh:

Okay, I’ve had another day to read the suit, and 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….

“Defendants were aware of these economic relationships and intended to interfere with and disrupt them by unlawfully and wrongfully taking and using Oracle’s Software and Support Materials to obtain and retain Oracle’s own customers at little to no cost.”

Clearly TomorrowNow didn’t need Oracle materials to obtain customers – they had already signed them up in droves prior to November 2006, when the alleged downloading took place. The first part of the sentence is true — everyone who watches Oracle knows that maintenance revenues are sacrosanct. But, again, Oracle’s attempts to prove that stealing anything from Oracle could help win over a customer is going to be interesting to watch.

So, for all those who suggested to me that the difference between Oracle trying to “borrow” off Red Hat’s good brand, and TomorrowNow’s trying to borrow off Oracle’s “good” brand, you may want to take another look at the lawsuit. Nick and Josh may be wrong. But I’d bet on them over Oracle’s good intentions any day.