LTW and From Wire Reports
U.S. suing Oracle alleging software contracts fraud
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it is joining a fraud lawsuit against Oracle Corp. related to software contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The agency said Oracle failed to offer government customers the same discounts on its software that it offered commercial customers, as it was required to do. As a result, the lawsuit alleges, Oracle overcharged the government on a contract that ran from 1998 to 2006.
Paul Frascella, Oracle’s senior director of contract services, filed the original lawsuit in May 2007 under the False Claims Act, which allows whistleblowers to sue on the government’s behalf and share in any damages recovered.
Oracle did not immediately return messages for comment.
"We take seriously allegations that a government contractor has dealt dishonestly with the United States," Assistant Attorney General Tony West said in a statement. "When contractors misrepresent their business practices to the government, taxpayers suffer."
YouTube boosts upload limit to 15 minutes
NEW YORK, N.Y. – In case 10 minutes isn’t enough to show off your guitar solo skills or Lady Gaga impersonation, YouTube has raised the limit it places on video uploads to 15 minutes.
The video website, owned by Google, said in a blog post Thursday that the longer upload time was the single-most requested feature that its users have been asking for.
YouTube says it’s raising the limit now because it believes its "Content ID" technology, which automatically removes copyright violations by digitally sifting through the site’s archives, is working.
"Because of the success of these ongoing technological efforts, we are able to increase the upload limit today," wrote Joshua Siegel, YouTube product manager for upload and video management in the post.
Ballmer: Tablet coming ‘as soon as we can’
REDMOND, Wash. – Microsoft will compete with Apple’s iPad, but it isn’t saying when.
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer says the company is working with Intel Corporation and computer makers to perfect tablet touch-screen computers.
Analysts attending an annual meeting at Microsoft headquarters on Thursday got few concrete details. Ballmer did say Windows tablets will use Intel processors for the foreseeable future.
Ballmer said, "We’ll be in market as soon as we can."
But, he added that whether it’s "really, really soon, or just really, pretty soon, I’m going to wait until I have a device I want to hand you and tell you to go use."
Ballmer says Apple has "done an interesting job" with the iPad, and says Apple has sold more of the devices than he would like.
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