https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/10/fortune_200_oracle_java_audit/ # # Sign in / up The Register(r) -- Biting the hand that feeds IT # # # Topics Security Security All SecurityCyber-crimePatchesResearchCSO (X) Off-Prem Off-Prem All Off-PremEdge + IoTChannelPaaS + IaaSSaaS (X) On-Prem On-Prem All On-PremSystemsStorageNetworksHPCPersonal TechCxOPublic Sector (X) Software Software All SoftwareAI + MLApplicationsDatabasesDevOpsOSesVirtualization (X) Offbeat Offbeat All OffbeatDebatesColumnistsScienceGeek's GuideBOFHLegalBootnotesSite NewsAbout Us (X) Special Features Special Features All Special Features Cloud Infrastructure Week Cybersecurity Month Blackhat and DEF CON Sysadmin Month The Reg in Space Emerging Clean Energy Tech Week Spotlight on RSA Energy Efficient Datacenters Vendor Voice Vendor Voice Vendor Voice All Vendor Voice Amazon Web Services (AWS) New Horizon in Cloud Computing DDN Google Cloud Data Transformation Google Gemini Hewlett Packard Enterprise: Edge-to-Cloud Platform Intel vPro VMware (X) Resources Resources Whitepapers Webinars & Events Newsletters [front] Software 19 comment bubble on white Oracle Java police start knocking on Fortune 200's doors for first time 19 comment bubble on white Expansion of compliance activity follows per-employee licensing change icon Lindsay Clark Mon 10 Jun 2024 // 14:45 UTC # Oracle has started to dispatch Java audit letters to Fortune 200 companies for the first time, according to one licensing expert. Big Red announced a new licensing regime for the popular programming language and development environment in January 2023. It said Java SE Universal Subscription would offer customers "a simple, low-cost monthly subscription that includes Java SE Licensing and Support for use on Desktops, Servers or Cloud deployments." But industry experts have pointed out that businesses with limited Java use would have to license the software per employee under the latest model, a dramatic shift from the one previously offered by Oracle. Gartner estimated the per-employee subscription model to be two to five times more expensive than the legacy version. [front] While smaller companies with as few as a hundred employees had received Oracle audit letters asking them to clarify their Java licensing position, it had so far held off quizzing the largest companies. But that has changed in recent months, according to Craig Guarente, founder and CEO of Palisade Compliance, an independent Oracle licensing advisory company. [front] [front] "A month ago, I would have said on the top end, that Oracle was not auditing the Fortune 100 or Fortune 200 companies, so there was a threshold on the top end, but that's gone now," he said. "In the last month, we've seen official audit letters from Oracle to Fortune 100 companies out there. Some of them were existing Oracle Java subscription users, who had renewals coming up and some of them weren't paying Oracle anything for Java, so there's really no differentiation there." Guarente was speaking on a webinar hosted by Azul, which helps organizations move away from Oracle Java to open source alternatives. [front] Donna Walker, Azul director of enterprise sales, said Oracle had requested an annual licensing fee of $4 million when a retail client switched to per-employee licensing while rolling out a new point-of-sale system. But by using Oracle Java for the PoS, and migrating the rest to open Java, they were able to achieve a 90 percent saving, she claimed. * 7-year-old Oracle WebLogic bug under active exploitation * Lords of May-hem: Seven signs it is Oracle's year end * Oracle ULA audits are a license to bill * Oracle's database family gets trendy AI makeover Guarente warned that customers should evaluate their position and only pay for Java where necessary. Signing up to a long-term agreement may make a customer a hostage to fortune when it comes to renewal, he said. "Once you're locked in, if you're paying Oracle a million dollars a year and you did a three-year subscription, what do you think is going to happen for that renewal? It's not going to be a million dollars, it's going to be as much as Oracle can generate, and if you are locked in and can't move away from Oracle at that point within 30 or 60 days, your renewal is going way up." Last year, Gartner said clients' experience since the new model was introduced showed a steep increase in Oracle licensing costs such that by 2026, more than 80 percent of Java applications will be deployed on third-party runtimes, up from 65 percent in 2023. In February 2023, Gartner warned that Oracle "actively targets organizations" on Java compliance following the introduction of new contractual terms for the code. [front] In July last year, The Register revealed Oracle was sending unsolicited emails to businesses offering to discuss Java subscription deals, seemingly in an effort to extract information that could be to its benefit in future license negotiations. 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