[billakay]

This is an absolutely terrible analysis. Google did not copy (or admit to copying) ANY actual code implementation. What did they did copy is the INTERFACE or API, which is a completely different thing, and the use of copyright law here is absurd.

To make it clear, what Sun/Oracle alleges is that they have a set of functions like this:

int doSomething(int param1, int param2)

This is a function called doSomething that takes two integer parameters and returns an integer result.

Under Sun/Oracle's own admission doSomething was re-implemented by Google sight unseen...the actual working code has nothing to do with Sun's code. They are instead alleging that the production of an identical interface (function names, parameters, return values) compatible with Sun's is a violation of copyright law.

This is prima facie absurd.

[NativeSon]

Put that way, it’s ridiculous and would set a terrible precedent if awarded.

[zeugma]

This is prima facie absurd.

It is. It reeks of the SCO lawsuit.

Personally, I wish they could both lose.

[CodeToad]

This fight was already fought in Compaq vs IBM for the PC BIOS.

APIs are fair game after that fight.

[jdege]

What Google has done is no different than what the PC clone manufacturers did in duplicating the IBM BIOS - a reimplementation to an existing interference.

We need Google to win this one.