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Larry Page on the stand in Oracle trial: 'We didn't do anything wrong'

Larry Page on the stand in Oracle trial: 'We didn't do anything wrong'

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Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page took the stand today to defend his company's actions in Oracle's infringement lawsuit over Android, reiterating that the company had done nothing wrong.

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Larry Page
Larry Page

Oracle and Google's legal fight has finally made its way to the courtroom, with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison taking the stand earlier this morning. The other big name to appear was Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page, who was faced with a line of questioning vital to the case's shift from patent disputes to copyright infringement: namely, how did particular lines of Sun (now Oracle) code make their way into Android? Confronted with a slide from an Android strategy presentation in 2005, which openly called for licensing of Java from Sun as part of the path moving forward, Page reiterated that he didn't feel the company had done anything wrong.

"I know there's some disputes about some files," Page said.

Things were less clear when he was asked about the existence of what Oracle claims is code copied from its own intellectual property, in some cases symbol for symbol. "I know there's some disputes about some files," Page said, noting that Ellison had informed him about the allegations over a dinner meeting. He went on to say that examples had never been sent, "I'm assuming because there wasn't very strong evidence."

Page also stated that he was not involved personally in ensuring that Google employees working on Android didn't have access to Sun or Oracle intellectual property. He pointed to Android head Andy Rubin as the person who would have likely been responsible, while also being sure to state that Rubin "didn't have any formal reporting relationship with me." Page went so far as to say that no high-level Google executives whatsoever had taken steps to ensure that code wasn't being copied — though he did state that if the type of cutting and pasting that Oracle is implying had occurred, Google would "take it very seriously."

Preceding Page was Oracle's executive vice president of product development Thomas Kurian, who spent time detailing the different licenses and options available for those that want to utilize Java in officially-sanctioned capacities. Google has yet to obtain any such licenses for Android. Page will be back on the stand tomorrow, and we'll be there to bring you all the new developments.