Judge in Google-Oracle case seeks names of paid reporters, bloggers
A judge in the patent battle between Google Inc and Oracle Corp ordered the companies to disclose the names of journalists on their payrolls, stunning the legal and media communities. The highly unusual order was issued on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who said he was concerned that Google and Oracle or their counsel had retained or paid people who may have published comment on the case. The order, issued several months after a jury found that Google did not infringe Oracle patents, hints at the possibility of a hidden world of for-pay press coverage and injects uncertainty into the widely followed case. The companies must submit the information by noon August 17. Oracle sued Google in federal court, claiming the search engine giant’s Android mobile platform violated its patents and copyright to Java, seeking roughly $1 billion on its copyright claims.
“The court is concerned that the parties and/or counsel herein may have retained or paid print or Internet authors, journalists, commentators or bloggers who have and/or may publish comments on the issues in the case,” Alsup wrote in order. He said the information “would be of use on appeal” and could “make clear whether any treatise, article, commentary or analysis on the issues posed by this case are possibly influenced by financial relationships to the parties or counsel.”
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