“Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison staunchly defended his
company’s hiring of a detective agency to investigate groups that
supported rival Microsoft Corp., calling the snooping a “public
service.” News of the investigation Wednesday turned a previously
scheduled Oracle news conference into a stormy affair, drowning out
product announcements that were supposed to provide the Redwood
Shores-based company’s answer to Microsoft’s sweeping Internet
strategy announced last week.”
“The brouhaha over Oracle’s spying activities underscored the
fierce rivalry between the software behemoths and Ellison’s
never-ending drive to knock Microsoft from its position as the
world’s largest software maker. Oracle, the second-largest software
firm, publicly acknowledged Tuesday that it had hired Investigative
Group International Inc., a Washington D.C. investigative firm, a
year ago to look into actions of Independent Institute of Oakland
and the National Taxpayers Union of Arlington, Va.”
“Calling the two organizations “front groups” for Microsoft,
Oracle said the organizations attempted to influence public opinion
in favor of Microsoft during its antitrust trial — without
revealing that the groups were funded by the Redmond, Wash.-based
software giant. “We’re helping Microsoft with its full
disclosure problem,” said Ellison, who said Oracle’s investigation
was a “civic duty.”