Oracle admits to paying bloggers, Google fails to comply with judge’s order
Earlier this month, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco issued a brief order that demanded Google (GOOG) and Oracle (ORCL) disclose whether either party paid bloggers during its high-profile trial that took place earlier this year. Both parties responded on Friday, however Judge Alsup found Google’s court filing less than satisfying, The Verge reported. While the Internet giant revealed that it did not pay “an author, journalist, commentator or blogger to report or comment on any issues in this case,” Alsup stated that “Google has failed to comply” with his original request.
The judge on Monday said that “the order was designed to bring to light authors whose statements about the issues in the case might have been influenced by the receipt of money from Google or Oracle.” The Mountain View-based company now has until noon on Friday to file a new list of consultants, contractors, vendors, or employees who commented on the case. “Please simply do your best but the impossible is not required,” Alsup wrote in his order. “Oracle managed to do it.”
Oracle, on the other hand, confirmed previous reports that it had hired blogger Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents as a consultant on “competition related matters,” and also noted that some of its employees might have blogged about the case, although it did not ask them to do so.
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