ORG signs letter opposing Oracle take over of MySQL

The Open Rights Group has joined Knowledge Ecology International and Richard Stallman in signing a letter opposing Oracle’s takeover of MySQL.

We have written to EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes to ask that MySQL be sold off as a condition of Oracle’s Sun takeover.

The letter says:

If Oracle is allowed to acquire MySQL, it will predictably limit the development of the functionality and performance of the MySQL software platform, leading to profound harm to those who use MySQL software to power applications.

Oracle is the leading seller of proprietary database software designed for very large enterprises. In this market space, Oracle has market dominance, and charges very high prices and earns hefty profits. In other segments of the market, Oracle has faced more competition from other competitors for database software, including proprietary products such as Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase and IBM’s DB2, but also from FLOSS  platforms, including in particular MySQL.
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MySQL is also creating substantial competitive pressure on prices for proprietary databases, leading to moderation or lowering of licensing fees from Oracle and Microsoft, as well as defection of many enterprise database services to a MySQL platform. If one considers proprietary software a good thing, this reduction in their prices is an instance of the economic benefit that we seek from competition.
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While Oracle’s database is the dominant player today for the “old” database market, MySQL is the dominant player for the “new,” emerging database markets, and is seen by Oracle as the most important competitor for the future.

Oracle made an earlier effort to buy MySQL in 2006, but the management rejected Oracle’s offer, in part because Oracle would not disclose its plan for MySQL, and some members of the MySQL management team were concerned that Oracle was only acquiring MySQL to curb its advances in the marketplace.

Read the full letter here.