Now that Oracle has more than 60 percent of PeopleSoft’s outstanding shares the question is can the PeopleSoft board of directors stop the hostile takeover?The answer is they probably can with a poison pill tactic used by most companies, including Oracle, to prevent such a takeover. In PeopleSoft’s case it is called a Shareholder Rights Plan and gives the board, at their discretion, the right to issue new shares of the stock. By distributing more shares and thus diluting the stock, it becomes virtually impossible for Oracle to gain a majority ownership of the outstanding shares of stock. Without a majority Oracle cannot wage a successful proxy fight to oust the current board and install one favorable to Oracle’s $24 per share bid.PeopleSoft also did something very smart last year when it created what it calls its Customer Assurance program. Built into customer contracts since June 2003 is a clause that says if PeopleSoft is acquired by either Oracle or SAP and either company does not support and develop modules as PeopleSoft would have, customers have the right to claim anywhere from two to five times their money back. While the assurance program is technically not a poison pill, sources I spoke to say it is this program that has allowed PeopleSoft to gain over 3,500 new contracts despite the uncertainty over the company’s future caused by Oracle’s hostile bid. Technology Industry