California lawmaker and Oracle at odds over software investigation
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Over the past few days, a senior Oracle Corp. official and a California lawmaker have swapped barbs concerning the disputed $95 million software contract between the company and the state.
Over the past few days, a senior Oracle Corp. official and a California lawmaker have swapped barbs concerning the disputed $95 million software contract between the company and the state.
In a letter to Assemblyman Dean Florez, chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, Oracle questioned the Legislature's handling of an investigation into the licensing deal, which the company negotiated with California in May of last year.
Oracle officials said that on Friday they hand-delivered the letter, which called the committee's actions punitive and driven by a desire to gain media attention.
In a reply letter to Oracle chief executive officer Larry Ellison, Florez said he had yet to receive the actual letter, although he had downloaded an online version posted on the company's Web site, at www.oracle.com/california/05-31-02_Florez.doc. 'Put plainly, this is discourteous and unprofessional conduct,' Florez said. He called the Oracle letter 'a disappointing diatribe intertwined with desperate personal attacks and innuendo.'
Oracle's letter registered the company's dissatisfaction with the way the committee has overseen its inquiry into the company's enterprise license agreement (ELA) with the state and the committee's reliance on the findings of a Bureau of State Audits report [see story at www.gcn.com/21_11/news/18682-1.html].
Signed by Oracle chief financial officer Jeffrey O. Henley, the letter said Oracle "has not been given a single opportunity to defend itself against the baseless allegations in the BSA report relating to the value of the ELA."
In his letter to Ellison, Florez called the contention 'utter nonsense.' He noted that Oracle defended itself in a May 14 San Francisco Chronicle article, 'In Defense of the Oracle Deal,' by Oracle consultant and former California state auditor Kurt Sjoberg.
Florez also defended the findings in the BSA report, calling them 'firmly rooted in meticulous documentation, analysis and data from your own company.'
In its letter, Oracle made multiple complaints:
"This is, by our count, the fourth time the JLAC has postponed Oracle's ability to testify, denying the company's fundamental right to address the core findings in the BSA report," the Oracle letter said.
Florez responded in his letter to Ellison that 'Oracle was imbued with a spirit of cooperation ' only after being threatened with subpoenas by a unanimous vote of the Joint Legislative Rules Committee.'
"It is unheard of'perhaps unprecedented'that the subject of an audit report is not given a single opportunity to engage in a thoughtful discussion about the report," the Oracle letter said.
"The most notoriously unfair legislative investigations in the history of our country, such as the House Un-American Activities Committee or its Senate counterparts, allowed its witnesses to make opening statements," the letter said.
Florez bristled at this comparison: 'I believe it is outrageous that Mr. Henley compares JLAC unfavorably to the House Un-American Activities Committee. This kind of over-heated rhetoric only lends credence to charges of unethical conduct by Oracle's sales representatives.'
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