Google motions to block incriminating email from courtroom

An incriminating email message has been revealed in the Oracle case against Google, which claims that Google's Android operating system has violated a number of Oracle's patents that pertain to Java. According to the email, Google was aware of the violations and elected to go ahead with releasing Android without paying a license fee or using other methods. Google has attempted to block the email from being used as evidence in the courtroom, but since it has been revealed to the public already, that may be easier said than done.

Google says that the email was private, client-attorney communication and is not eligible for use in the court. Oracle, of course, disagrees with this, and wants the email presented as evidence of corporate malfeasance. The email, which was a draft that was auto-saved by Google's systems, says the search giant, was supposedly intended to be delivered to an attorney for Google, which would make it fall under client-attorney communication. Oracle argues that since the email started out as "Hi Andy", it is referencing Andy Rubin, head of the team that develops Android, it is a business message and is fully eligible to be used in court.

The email that is at the center of this was penned by Tim Lindholm and is as follows: "What we've actually been asked to do (by Larry and Sergey) is to investigate what technical alternatives exist to Java for Android and Chrome. We've been over a bunch of these, and think they all suck. We conclude that we need to negotiate a license for Java under the terms we need."

Google argues that the email was written after Oracle had initially sued Google for infringing on its Java patents, at which point it would be appropriate to look for other alternatives.

Another, possibly more damaging email written by Andy Rubin himself a number of years earlier has already been shown to the court and entered as evidence. In it, Rubin says "If Sun doesn't want to work with us, we have two options: 1) Abandon our work and adopt MSFT CLR VM and C# language ? or ? 2) Do Java anyway and defend our decision, perhaps making enemies along the way."

A jury will ultimately decide if this email was enough evidence to show that Google was willfully infringing on Oracle's patents. If Google is found guilty, it could be forced to pay up to three times what the court deems to be the actual damages done to Oracle