Re: Oracle buys Innobase

Robert Treat <xzilla@users.sourceforge.net>

From: Robert Treat <xzilla@users.sourceforge.net>
To: pgsql-advocacy@postgresql.org
Cc: Robert Bernier <robert.bernier5@sympatico.ca>
Date: 2005-10-18T00:50:27Z
Lists: pgsql-general
On Monday 17 October 2005 18:09, Robert Bernier wrote:
> On Monday 17 October 2005 17:47, Chris Travers wrote:
> > Robert Bernier wrote:
> > >Hey, don't forget MySQL AB is a European company. This won't fly like it
> > > would in the US, the anti-trust laws are stricter.
> >
> > Why not?  One would be hard to argue that removing MySQL from the market
> > place would have any adverse effect on competition.  Are competitors
> > then never allowed to merge in the EU?  Besides who would have standing
> > to sue? IANAL though and I am an American so I could misunderstand
> > something pretty fundamental.
>
> In canada we have a thing called the competition bureau, a company is not
> allowed to buy another company if its to reduce competition
>

By that definition no company could ever buy any other company even if they 
wanted a mutual merger, so I don't think that is the case.  Oracle buying 
my$ql wouldn't even cause the legislature to blink... if you dont believe me 
just look at the track record of oracle with peoplesoft/sap, a market where 
there really isn't much competition, unlike the db market where there are a 
least a dozen legitimate competitors in the field. More importantly, my$ql 
has said themselves numerous times they "don't compete with oracle" so using 
there own words you can't put oracle on an anti-competitive practice 
(whoops!).

-- 
Robert Treat
Build A Brighter Lamp :: Linux Apache {middleware} PostgreSQL