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My IS 7010 students just finished a case about MySQL earlier this week. In that case, MySQL had entered an alliance with SAP and planned to merge SAP DB into MySQL software. That product became MaxDB, and it’s an essential part of SAP NetWeaver.

Today, Oracle sued SAP. Among the charges: employees at TomorrowNow, an SAP subsidiary in Texas, used Oracle customer passwords to copy Oracle software and documents. SAP then offered support services to Oracle customers who were considering switching to SAP NetWeaver.

The TomorrowNow home page doesn’t list SAP at all, notr does it mention Oracle. TomorrowNow does provide third-party support for ERP systems from J.D. Edwards, Siebel and PeopleSoft. Siebel and PeopleSoft were both purchased by Oracle a few years ago. PeopleSoft had previously purchased JD Edwards.

This lawsuit isn’t a big surprise, considering how much the Oracle and SAP sales forces hate each other. According to this article, “Oracle has spent US$20billion over the past three years” to buy smaller competitive rivals in the ERP (enterprise resource planning) industry. The lawsuit states that “theft appears to be an esential — and illegal — part of SAP’s competitive strategy against Oracle.”

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Sports: Major League Baseball : News: “What Piniella likes particularly about the streak is that it gives the team a point of reference for the future. The Rays have never had a lengthy period of success to fall back on during hard times. ‘Yes, this should help us when times get tough again,’ Piniella said. ‘We will be able to say, ‘We can work our way out of this because we know we can win. We’ve done it before.’ What you’d like to see (after the streak ends) is a period of .500 for a while and then set up for another hot streak. ”

Tech: Yahoo! News - Studios Cut to the Chase: “Hollywood sees Germany as a crucial battleground in its assault on piracy. Industry officials say the country is the Internet piracy capital of Western Europe. Although black-market street sales of pirated movies proliferate in Asia and Latin America, experts say, much of the problem in Germany involves widespread downloading and copying, with little social disapproval. Bootleg DVDs are openly traded in schoolyards and shown in country clubs, bus depots and even by teachers in classrooms. In addition to the home-grown piracy, movies smuggled in from Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic feed a busy network of German flea markets. ”

USA: TheStar.com - U.S. abuse may be war crime: U.N.: “The United Nations’ top human rights official says the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers may constitute a war crime, and he has called for the immediate naming of an international figure to oversee the situation.

Bertrand Ramcharan, acting high commissioner for human rights, acknowledged yesterday that the removal of Saddam Hussein represented ‘a major contribution to human rights in Iraq’ and that the U.S. had condemned abusive conduct and pledged to bring violators to justice.” Of course, the Bush administration has already rejected the notion that US citizens can be prosecuted for international war crimes…

USA: Yahoo! News - Drilling Finds Crater Beneath Va. Bay: “From the depths came jumbled, mixed bits of crystalline and melted rock that can be dated, as well as marine deposits, brine and other evidence of an ancient comet or asteroid that slammed into once-shallow waters near the Delmarva Peninsula.

Cape Charles is considered Ground Zero for the resulting 56-mile-wide depression below what’s now the Chesapeake Bay. The drilling project marks the first time the geologists explored the inner portion of the inverted-sombrero-shaped crater.”