[fjtorres]

http://www.cnet.com/news/supreme-cou...a-patent-case/

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it will not hear an appeal from Google over a copyright case that could force the search giant to pay Oracle licensing fees for using the Java programming language, Reuters reported. After an appeals court decided in favor of Oracle last year, Google took its appeal to the Supreme Court.

The implications of the case go further than Google possibly having to pay licensing fees and a potential $1 billion in damages to Oracle for the use of Java in the Android mobile operating system. The case brings to light the question of whether software developers can use copyright law to hold exclusive rights on basic code, a move that could limit the ability of other developers to build on that code.

More at the source.