Posted 8:35 AM

Judge rules for Oracle in PeopleSoft case

When you are in the opinion business, as I am, it's nice when you're occasionally proven to be right. It's even nicer when it's a federal Judge who's ruling constitutes that proof. Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the U.S. Department of Justice was not only wrong to accuse Oracle of anti-trust activity, but was blatently wrong in 10 out of 11 arguments.

Last year, when Connecticut's Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, was threatening to sue Oracle on anti-trust grounds, and PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway was repeating the outrageous idea that he's rejecting the acquisition because it raises anti-trust questions I dismissed both as publicity seekers, intellectual lightweights and anti-business, anti-stockholder self-aggrandizing blowhards. I concluded "Maybe, while I had my back turned, someone started a contest to see who could take on Larry Ellison least effectively? With extra points for looking like a doofus while you're doing it?"

Turns out I was right, and the judge agreed.