The legal battle over patents between Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) may be about to inflict some collateral damage on bloggers and journalist, reports the BBC:
”Oracle and Google have been ordered to reveal the names of reporters, bloggers and other commentators they have paid. … The judge said he was “concerned” that financial relationships may have influenced analysis published in newspapers and on the net. ”
(Click here to read Oracle and Google are ordered to reveal paid bloggers)
It could prove to be an interesting list if the information is ever disclosed, although from a legal perspective it’s unclear what it has to do with the court case.
For the record, it should be noted that in the trade press vendors often cover the travel and hotel expenses for journalists to attend and report on their out of town conferences. That’s why I was in Las Vegas umpteen times last year which, I assure you, is far less glamorous than it sounds (except for the Brazilian steak at The Mirage, which was amazing) but, at least, is better than Orlando. And we’re free, of course, to write whatever we want though, positively or negatively, based on what happens. Which we do.
Being paid to offer a certain opinion, as is implied in this story, is another kettle of fish however.
And no, I’ve never been paid by or attended a conference with Oracle or Google. I think an Oracle executive may have come to our offices once though and brought muffins, so we’ll see if that makes the list.
