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SAP hit with wide-ranging Oracle lawsuit

Latest salvo between long-time rivals is an extensive fraud and hacking charge

By Jason Compton, 23 Mar 2007 at 23:03

What more can be said except "They are at it again"?

SAP and Oracle, locked in a multi-year struggle for dominance in the enterprise software industry that has seen both snap up market share and rivals at a breathtaking clip, can add a new and intriguing chapter to their storied rivalry, thanks to the recent lawsuit filed by Oracle against SAP, including the parent company, SAP America, and SAP America's subsidiary TomorrowNow. Oracle cites those companies, along with unnamed individuals, with "corporate theft on a grand scale" in a lawsuit filed in US federal district court.

Oracle's legal complaint reads at times like a story and at times like marketing copy, but the focal point of its complaint is SAP unit TomorrowNow (TN). TN provides third-party service and support contracts for PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Siebel software-all product lines now owned by Oracle. TN was acquired by SAP in early 2005 and unapologetically competes with Oracle for the same customer bases Oracle intended to acquire for future support and upgrade contracts when buying out those smaller technology rivals.

In the complaint, Oracle charges TN personnel with wide-ranging acts of fraud and digital exploitation. In particular, Oracle says that it has extensive records documenting that TN agents, using passwords obtained from the past and present Oracle customers it courts, downloaded massive quantities of Oracle proprietary information which it now employs as part of its paid services. In addition to obtaining quantities outside the scope of the Oracle customer agreements, Oracle says that TN also obtained various other internal documents and programs relating to those product lines. In all, Oracle says that it can document more than 10,000 downloads from TN personnel over a four month period, largely using Oracle client credentials. The suit charges SAP with, among other things, computer fraud, conspiracy, and unfair competition, and seeks restitution and punitive damages.

Neither party in the dispute provided additional details today. Through a spokesperson, SAP said, "SAP will not comment other than to make it clear to our customers, prospects, investors, employees and partners that SAP will aggressively defend against the claims made by Oracle in the lawsuit." Oracle did not immediately respond to questions.