Oracle, EC Open Fire Over Open Source

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (TheStreet -- Oracle's(ORCL Quote) $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun(JAVA Quote) has provoked a mudslinging match between the database giant and Brussels after the European Commission issued a formal objection to the deal on Monday.

The EU voiced its concern about Oracle's obtaining Sun's MySQL database technology, which has strong links to the open source community.

The statement of objection, which was revealed in an Oracle SEC filing, went on to discuss the deal's "potential negative effects on the competition in the market for database products."

Oracle immediately shot back with a stinging criticism of the European Commission, claiming that the objection revealed a "profound misunderstanding" of both database competition and open source dynamics.

"It is well understood by those knowledgeable about open source software that, because it is open source, it cannot be controlled by anyone," added Oracle. "That is the whole point of open source."

The E.C., however, is clearly bruising for a battle. Jonathan Todd, the commission's spokesman, dismissed Oracle's barbs as "facile and superficial" during a Brussels press briefing Tuesday.

"Despite the fact that MySQL is open source, Oracle would be the exclusive holder of the copyright and the trademark for MySQL code," he said. "Oracle is the leading proprietary database vendor and MySQL is the leading open source data vendor, and would appear to constitute an important competitive force in the database market at the moment."

When the dust settles, however, people will be wondering what Oracle's next move will be.