Re: http://www.hjrdba.com/

"Howard J. Rogers" <dba_at_hjrdba.com> wrote in message news:<ab29r3$6a6$1_at_lust.ihug.co.nz>...
> Not sure that any confusion will be cleared up, since I am still a bit
> confused myself, but I don't think it does any harm to state the facts as I
> know them to be.
>
> I have not been told why the site had to come down. Legal liability through
> mistakes I might make was one subject mentioned. Possible advantage to
> Oracle University competitors was another. Disparagement of Oracle, the
> Corporation, was another. At various times, 1, 2 or 3 subjects were
> mentioned.
>
> So the why is still unknown, even to me.
>
> Given whatever concerns there were, however, the mechanism used to achieve
> resolution was simply to enforce the Proprietary Information Agreement I'd
> signed which said (on close inspection) that anything I write related to
> Oracle matters whilst employed by Oracle belongs to Oracle. By asserting
> ownership, Oracle Corp was able to insist on take-down. Strangely, Usenet
> posts were specifically excluded, provided I don't disparage the Corporation
> in anything I post.
>
> (I wouldn't mind so much, but I told them the site was there 7 months ago,
> asking for any concerns they had to be brought to my attention pronto!).
>
> The only other fact I know is that someone, whose only condition was total
> anonymity, rang HR to inform them of the existence of the site and/or to
> complain about its contents, from which all ensued.
>
> That notification was given shortly after someone on this group emailed me
> privately concerning legal disclaimers I ought to be making, which email
> itself arrived after a bit of a bun-fight on this group. Coincidence?
> Probably. Possibly. I don't know. Whoever it was, I trust they're happy now.
>
> Regards
> HJR
>
> "Nuno Souto" <nsouto_at_optushome.com.au.nospam> wrote in message
> news:3cd4889f$0$15474$afc38c87_at_news.optusnet.com.au...
> > In article <uk7qj1yn0.fsf_at_rcn.com>, you said (and I quote):
> > >
> > > > There is not even a point in saying that Oracle's education income
> > > > would suffer from sites like his.
> > >
> > > Can somebody who knows restate what the issue was?
> >
> > the closure of hjrdba.
> >
> >
> > > From the
> > > conversations, it seemed that Oracle was worried that somebody might act
> > > on incorrect information in Howard's site and then Oracle would could
> > > get sued. Therefore, they forced Howard to shut his site down.
> >
> >
> > Yes, and some of us didn't believe that. For many reasons which were
> > explained. As for the real reasons, only Oracle and hjr really know
> > them. Don't expect either to confirm or deny this, it just won't happen.
> > At least not in this media. Usenet is just not appropriate for official
> > statements of any kind.
> >
> > > Some seem to think it is about ownership, and now I read that Oracle was
> > > worried that Howard was cutting into their profits.
> > >
> >
> > no, you read what is above and I re-quote:
> >
> > > > There is not even a point in saying that Oracle's education income
> > > > would suffer from sites like his.
> >
> > that is most definitely not the same as what you said. So let's not
> > start a fork(). ;-)
> >
> >
> > --
> > Cheers
> > Nuno Souto
> > nsouto_at_optushome.com.au.nospam

This whole thread has reinforced my feelings that becoming an Oracle employee would be more of a problem that a solution. Yes, it would give me access to Oracle software sooner, but the gags it would impose would be too much for me to take. I made a concious decision several years ago that I wanted to write what I want to write, whether it be about Oracle or the mating habits of mud ducks and any company that would impose gags on me would not be considered as potential employers. I made that clear with my current position as well (at least I thought I did...:) ).

Anyway, Howard, if you feel like coming in out of the cold TUSC probably has a place for you...:)

Mike Received on Tue May 07 2002 - 13:22:59 CDT