Oracle amends suit to claim Android a direct copy

Oracle has amended its lawsuit against Google to overtly accuse the company of stealing code for Android. The initially vague complaint was changed Wednesday to charge Google with having "directly copied" several parts of code outright. About a third of the Java APIs used by developers are also "derivative" of ones Oracle uses, the updated suit read.

Among the elements under dispute were programming components as simple as class libraries and names as well as definitions and parameters. Even the documentation was similar, Oracle said.

Google hadn't publicly responded to the latest changes, but it has previously responded by accusing Oracle of dishonest behavior. Oracle was calling for open-sourced code before it acquired Sun but has changed its attitude and sued only after it had Sun and its patents onboard. The counter-argument accused Oracle of knowingly sitting on any disputes until an opportune moment.

Android's app foundations are based on Java and in 2.2 gained prominence through Dalvik, a custom just-in-time Java engine that gives supporting devices added speed compared to 2.1. Oracle's complaints have centered mostly around Dalvik and could force many of the most popular Android phones off the market if it gets an injunction.

The news comes just as Oracle is facing a setback on the Mac, one of the more Java-friendly platforms. Mac OS X Lion will remove pre-installed Java and force Oracle or a third-party to produce a separate installer. [via Computerworld]

By Electronista Staff