|
![]() |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2004 WWW.USDOJ.GOV |
AT (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 |
STATEMENT BY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL R.
HEWITT PATE
REGARDING THE ORACLE TRIAL
WASHINGTON, D.C. R. Hewitt Pate, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division, issued the following statement today as the government rested its case in the Oracle trial: "The government's trial team, led by Claude Scott, has provided the court with compelling evidence that Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft would be anticompetitive. The result of this merger would be higher prices, less innovation, and fewer choices for businesses, government agencies, and other organizations that rely on human resource and financial management enterprise software. "Witness after witness, customer after customer, expert after expert gave testimony to support the government's case. These witnesses and Oracle's own internal documents demonstrate that there are only three companies that sell the software products that large enterprise customers demandOracle, PeopleSoft and SAP. Oracle's own executives described the head-to-head competition between Oracle and PeopleSoft that has brought lower prices to their customers. The loss of that competition will lead to higher prices and less innovation for enterprise software. "The claim that new companies entering the marketplace would keep Oracle's prices in check was shown to be without merit. The hard facts are that entry into this enterprise market is extraordinarily difficult and would take many years. Indeed, the effort to draw so much attention to Microsoft's consideration of entering the market through acquisitionwhich would create no new competitiononly underscores the absence of competitive entry of the type that could protect customers. "And, Oracle's own CEO, Larry Ellison, conceded that at least one of the options suggested by Oracle as a viable alternativethe best of breed' approach--is more expensive than it is functional, saying that this concept only works at dog shows.' "Although we are only
halfway through the trial, the government has already presented ample
evidence showing that Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft would harm
competition. Through cross examination, the government will continue
to provide evidence to support this claim. ### 04-426 |