System News for Sun Users - The Blog

Posts List on Website to Reassure EU, Customers, Developers, Users

Oracle has listed 10 promises on its Website in regards to maintaining MySQL when it acquires Sun. Oracle states that it has engaged in constructive discussions with the European Commission regarding the Oracle/Sun transaction, and in particular the maintenance of MySQL as a competitive force in the database market. It published this list of commitments in order to further reassure the Commission, customers, developers and users of its plans for MySQL.

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EU Antitrust Chief Vacating Post on Jan. 26th

Dec. 10 is the day Oracle will be presenting its case to European Union regulators on why it should be allowed to acquire Sun. The European Commission has objected to the $7 billion deal, saying the combination of Sun’s MySQL database product and Oracle’s products could hinder competition in the database market. This ruling has met with opposition from a variety of sources and galvanized letter writing campaigns urging the EU to reconsider its stance. The EC also announced on Nov. 30 that Neelie Kroes, the commission’s competition commissioner for the last five years, will be assigned to a new job. Kroes has been in charge of the investigation into Oracle’s proposed purchase of Sun.

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Letter Cites Sun’s Precarious Financial Condition, Fears of More Layoffs A group of 59 U.S. senators sent a letter to the European Commission (EC) on Nov. 24 urging the European antitrust regulators to hurry their investigation into Oracle’s acquisition of Sun, citing the latter’s “precarious” financial condition and fears about more layoffs at the struggling computing company, reported AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson.

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Ruling Extended Eight Days at Oracle’s Request

European Union (EU) regulators extended the deadline for their final decision on Oracle’s plans to buy Sun by eight days. Announced on November 20, this extension was set in place to satisfy a request made by Oracle who is building its rebuttal to the European Commission’s Statement of Objections issued on November 9th opposing Sun’s acquisition by Oracle. The Commission said it has pushed back its deadline to January 27, 2010, from the original January 19 deadline set back in September.

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Oracle to “Vigorously Oppose” the Ruling

The European Commission issued a Statement of Objections on November 9th opposing Sun’s acquisition by Oracle. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Sun, the open-source MySQL database software is the sole issue of concern in the matter. In response, Oracle issued a statement saying the objection “reveals a profound misunderstanding of both database competition and open-source dynamics” and the company “plans to vigorously oppose the Commission’s Statement of Objections as the evidence against the Commission’s position is overwhelming.”

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Urges Swift Approval to Ensure Database Market Remains Competitive

Former CEO of MySQL Marten Mickos has written a letter of appeal to Neelie Kroes, the European Union’s competition commissioner, urging that Oracle’s pending acquisition of Sun be approved for the good of the market and MySQL. “Every new day of uncertainty is potentially very harmful to the various businesses of Sun, reducing competition in the market,” Mickos writes. “A delay in the closing of this transaction is therefore only going to work against the respectable goal that you set out to achieve when launching the probe into this acquisition.”

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Competition Effects Within Database Market Called into Question

The European Commission will be taking an in-depth look at Oracle’s proposed $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun to ensure the database market remains competitive. The Commission, which is the European Union’s executive and regulatory branch, set a Jan. 19, 2010 deadline to make the decision on whether to sanction the move or propose some modifications. The focus is on whether Oracle will have the potential of building a dominant position by acquiring MySQL. Oracle is the market leader in proprietary databases, while Sun’s MySQL database product is the leading open-source database, the Commission said.

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Loyal Sun Customers Await Merger’s Completion

Sun’s strong customer loyalty will keep most of its users on its side as the company transitions through its acquisition by Oracle, reports a Frost & Sullivan IT analyst. The deal is currently under review by the US Department of Justice, which extended its check of the deal on June 26 over concerns about the way rights to Java are licensed, and the European Commission, which is planning on releasing its first opinion on Sept. 3.

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