The US Supreme Court has declined to hear Google's appeal in the decision to allow Oracle property rights to the Java API. This has caused some consternation in the tech industry. Rightfully so, I believe. But the biggest damage may be to Oracle.
I'm sure Oracle is protecting their property -- or so they think. By obtaining control of the Java API they have maintained ownership of the Java language. They have prevented anyone else from re-implementing Java, as Google did with Android.
This all makes sense from a corporate point of view. A corporation must do what is best for its shareholders, and it must keep control over its properties. If Google (or anyone else) re-implemented Java without Oracle's permission (read that as 'license' and 'royalty payments') then Oracle could be seen as delinquent.
Yet I cannot help but think that Oracle's actions in this case have devalued the Java property. Consider:
Google, the immediate target, will pay Oracle for the Java API in Android. But these payments will be for a short term, perhaps the next five years. Can one doubt that Google will redesign Android to use a different language (perhaps Go) for its apps? Oracle will get payments from Google in the short term but not in the long term.
Other tech suppliers will move away from Java. Apple and Microsoft, for example, have little to gain by supporting Java. Microsoft has been burned by Java in the past (see "Visual Java") and doesn't need to be burned again.
Users of Java, namely large corporations, may re-think their commitment to Java. Prior to Oracle's grab, Java was seen as a neutral technology, one not tied to a large tech supplier. C# and Visual Basic are tied to Microsoft; Objective C and Swift are tied to Apple. C and C++ are not tied to specific vendors, but they are considered older technologies and expensive. Other languages, languages not tied to vendors (Python, Ruby) have appeal. When other languages gain, Java loses.
The open source world will look at Oracle's actions dimly. Open source is about sharing, and Oracle's move is all about *not* sharing. The open source movement was already suspicious of Oracle; this move will push developers away.
Java has been losing market share. The Tiobe index has seen a steady decline in Java's popularity over the past fifteen years. Oracle, by shouting "mine!", has perhaps accelerated that decline.
In the long term, Oracle may have damaged the Java property. Which is not good for their shareholders.
Java is a valuable property only while people use it. If everyone (except Oracle) abandons Java, Oracle will have a property with little value.
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