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Google, Oracle Android settlement talks heat up Ellison, Page to duke it out

Oh what joy it would be to listen as Larry Ellison and Larry Page duke it out as Oracle and Google wrestle over an Android settlement.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Google and Oracle will hold a settlement conference Sept. 19 and that talks should be interesting given that the two companies' lead Larrys---Page and Ellison, respectively---are forced to attend.

Oh what joy it would be to sit in on those talks.

Page and Ellison on Friday were ordered to appear for settlement talks as the U.S. District Court of Northern California really doesn't want to see a trial over Android.

Last week, both parties bought into settlement talks, but Google wanted to send mobile chief Andy Rubin. Oracle was going to send its president Safra Catz. That line-up didn't quite work given Rubin's standing in the Google pecking order and authority to seal a settlement so a judge ordered the companies to send their CEOs.

The court said Ellison and Page need to show up to settlement talks and others can attend. Clearly though Ellison and Page are the main attractions. The settlement talks pit a wily Silicon veteran---Ellison---against Page, a relative newcomer to the CEO ranks.

A settlement looks likely, but there is a wide gap to bridge. Oracle will want a big cut of future device sales and Google will obviously disagree. In any case, Google bet that Java would always be owned by Sun, which didn't really care much about monetizing its intellectual property. Google's bet went horribly wrong when Oracle bought Sun.

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