September 9th, 2004
Oracle wins antitrust case, but...
A federal judge handed Oracle a victory, ruling that the company’s acquisition of software rival PeopleSoft would pose no threat to competition in the corporate software market. Will U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision against the U.S. Department of Justice, which opposes the proposed merger, make future enforcement of antitrust law in high-tech markets tougher? An appeal is likely because there are few antitrust precedents in the software industry, and some of the economic theories introduced in the case have rarely been challenged. Even if Oracle wins an appeal and passes muster with the European Union, PeopleSoft’s shareholders could reject even a sweetened deal.
News.com’s Alorie Gilbert and Dawn Kawamoto lay out all the issues that could stand in the way of Oracle nabbing PeopleSoft.
