Sun will not set Java free
ZDNet | at | by Mike
IBM's Bob Sutor wants to see Java turned into a real standard, but Sun fears a loss of control could threaten Java's promise of write-once, run-anywhere.
Sun, which owns the patents to Java, still retains veto power. Also, Sun's intellectual property stake in the technology allows the company to connect other requirements to Java and to those who want to profit from it. First and foremost of those are licensing fees that Sun collects from vendors who attach the Java brand to their products (i.e.: IBM's WebSphere or BEA's WebLogic). The actual fees that Sun charges to those vendors are one of the IT industry's best-kept secrets. Sun refuses to disclose what it charges Java licensees, and the licensees never tell.
But evidence suggests that not everyone pays the same price. Sources familiar with the licensing schedule say the players involved with the mobile JSRs pay more than vendors in the other JSRs, perhaps due to the prevalence of devices like cell phones. Oracle is rumored to have cut a sweetheart deal in exchange for pulling out of an IBM-led organization (openserver.org) that Sun perceived to be a threat to the Java brand. (Oracle's withdrawal from that effort precipitated that group's collapse.)