SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - Plausible deniability took center stage Tuesday in the much scrutinized copyright case over the Android smartphone, as two Google executives divulged little on the stand.
Android chief Andy Rubin concluded his second day of testimony by dodging questions about the possibility of fragmentation in the Java program. Oracle, which has owned Java patents since acquiring Sun Microsystems in 2010, claims that the Android infringes 37 Java application programming interfaces (APIs), and that Google should have licensed the technology.
The exchange with Oracle lead attorney David Boies grew increasingly heated as Rubin continued to evade.
Rubin pivoted even when facing his internal emails with other Android developers that frequently addressed fragmentation as a key reason to obtain a license from Sun to use Java codes.
"I'm unclear that myself and Sun have the same definition of fragmentation," Rubin said.
Boies retorted: "Oh, you don't know."
"I'm just trying to be precise, Mr. Boies," Rubin said.
"I am too, sir," Boies replied.
The exchange echoing testimony last week from Google CEO Larry Page, who was rebuked by the trial judge for hedging on yes-or-no questions.
On Tuesday, Boise pressed Rubin about another 2007 email that in which Sun said it was excited about Google's Android product, but had concerns about the company's work creating a "fractured environment" in Java.
"You knew what 'fractured environment' meant then, didn't you, sir," Boies asked.
"I don't recall that I did," Rubin said.
"And you didn't bother to ask," Boies asked.
"I don't recall," Rubin answered.
Oracle rested its case by trying to skewer Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt about Android presentations to Google heads during the development phase of the phone's operating system.
Transcripts of a meeting showed that Java was "still a hotspot" for Google in 2007, two years into development of the Android. Schmidt said he didn't recall the meeting and may or may not have seen the accompanying documents.
Boies then asked Schmidt, a former Sun employee who helped developed the Java language in the 1980s and early 1990s, about open-source software in the Android.
"Did you know that the Apache software you were relying on for Android was not authorized for use in mobile devices," Boies asked.
Schmidt responded: "I am not aware of the technical details."
Opening Google's case, attorney Robert Van Nest recalled Schmidt as the first witness. This time, Schmidt remembered with vivid detail the release of Java during his tenure at Sun and was very aware of the technical details of the software.
Schmidt testified that Sun made a business decision when releasing Java to offer the software for a licensing fee, but for free to other developers. Sun did this to "not scare people away" from the new computer language and help them to embrace it, Schmidt testified.
Schmidt testified about stepping in as Google CEO in 2001 and showed intimate familiarity with both Android's development and Google's Java negotiations with Sun.
Android aimed to build a platform that was "free and clear" of the restrictions that are hampering the industry, Schmidt said.