4 ms·

If they decide to litigate, they might learn what a Streisand effect[0] is. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stre

by amenod 6y ago

If they decide to litigate, they might learn what a Streisand effect[0] is. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

scott_w 6y ago
> I doubt they care about the optics. I’ve never dealt with Oracle myself, yet even I’ve known about their reputation since before I joined the software industry.
- amenod 6y ago
  Yes, but this looks like they are scared of benchmarks. Weird, right? :)
  - scott_w 6y ago
    I recall Intel having similar clauses (for ICC?) so I don’t think it’s that strange for certain parts of the industry.
  - dwheeler 6y ago
    They aren't scared of benchmarks, because they've rendered benchmarks about their products illegal unless they like the results.
dwheeler 6y ago
I highly doubt Oracle cares about the Steisand effect. Oracle has long been lampooned for its lawyers, e.g., this old Bonkers World cartoon: https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts , and people have been complaining about the DeWitt clause since around 1982. I think the Streisand effect is not going to work in this case. The kind of people who decide to write Oracle multi-hundred-million dollar checks don't seem to care about this, because they have kept paying money for decades. So there's no reason for Oracle to care about it. The clause was added specifically at the direction of Larry Ellison. Larry Ellison is co-founder, executive chairman and chief technology officer (CTO) of Oracle, and the sixth richest person in the world... he has no reason to care what people think about these contracts, because no matter what he's still rich. The courts don't care about the Streisand effect either; they're used to people being unhappy about some of their rulings. And if there was going to a Streisand effect, you'd think it'd have already happened in the last 38 years. Don't get me wrong, I loathe the DeWitt clause (as does DeWitt). Making the truth illegal, which is what this does, hurts all of society. But a Streisand effect will not get you there. What's needed is a court ruling or law that strikes such clauses down. I'd much rather see a world where people can freely compare different products. I like Oracle's VirtualBox, for example; that thing can compete on its own merits. But that's my point; products should be able to compete on their own merits, instead of having legal clauses that prevent honest comparisons.

by amenod 6y ago

If they decide to litigate, they might learn what a Streisand effect[0] is. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

scott_w 6y ago

> I doubt they care about the optics. I’ve never dealt with Oracle myself, yet even I’ve known about their reputation since before I joined the software industry.

amenod 6y ago
Yes, but this looks like they are scared of benchmarks. Weird, right? :)
- scott_w 6y ago
  I recall Intel having similar clauses (for ICC?) so I don’t think it’s that strange for certain parts of the industry.
- dwheeler 6y ago
  They aren't scared of benchmarks, because they've rendered benchmarks about their products illegal unless they like the results.

dwheeler 6y ago

I highly doubt Oracle cares about the Steisand effect. Oracle has long been lampooned for its lawyers, e.g., this old Bonkers World cartoon: https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts , and people have been complaining about the DeWitt clause since around 1982. I think the Streisand effect is not going to work in this case. The kind of people who decide to write Oracle multi-hundred-million dollar checks don't seem to care about this, because they have kept paying money for decades. So there's no reason for Oracle to care about it. The clause was added specifically at the direction of Larry Ellison. Larry Ellison is co-founder, executive chairman and chief technology officer (CTO) of Oracle, and the sixth richest person in the world... he has no reason to care what people think about these contracts, because no matter what he's still rich. The courts don't care about the Streisand effect either; they're used to people being unhappy about some of their rulings. And if there was going to a Streisand effect, you'd think it'd have already happened in the last 38 years. Don't get me wrong, I loathe the DeWitt clause (as does DeWitt). Making the truth illegal, which is what this does, hurts all of society. But a Streisand effect will not get you there. What's needed is a court ruling or law that strikes such clauses down. I'd much rather see a world where people can freely compare different products. I like Oracle's VirtualBox, for example; that thing can compete on its own merits. But that's my point; products should be able to compete on their own merits, instead of having legal clauses that prevent honest comparisons.