Oracle sues SAP for 'massive' info theft

Oracle Corp announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against rival SAP, alleging a "massive" theft of proprietary information.

The lawsuit, filed in the US Federal District Court in San Francisco names SAP and its wholly owned subsidiary TomorrowNow, a third-party provider of support services for Oracle's PeopleSoft, J D Edwards and Siebel product lines, as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that SAP has systematically, illegally accessed Oracle's customer-support Web site and taken for its own use "thousands" of Oracle software products and other proprietary support materials.

SAP will not comment until it has had a chance to review the lawsuit, a spokesman said. SAP acquired TomorrowNow in 2005.

Oracle says that in late November it noticed an unusually heavy volume of download activity on Oracle's password-protected customer support and maintenance site for its PeopleSoft and J D Edwards customers, reported CNET.News.

Upon a review of the Customer Connection site, Oracle alleges that it found more than 10,000 illicit downloads in which customers with expired, or soon-to-expire, support and maintenance contracts had accessed the support and maintenance site.