Alan has an insightful post on the latest Oracle vs. SAP skirmish… Is this just playmaking on Oracle’s part or a legitimate case of corporate espionage? Either way, Alan makes a key point that the court of law is different than the court of public opinion…

For SAP, which cultivates a Boy Scout brand, this presents the ongoing problem of whether and how to respond to yet another Oracle gambit, not simply in the court of law, but in the court of public opinion. If it deigns to play ball, it will hedge its “Rise Above” philosopy (a little different than Oracle’s), stooping to its competitor’s aggressive play-calling as it recalls for the marketplace that, c’mon folks, Oracle’s the dirty one here. Whether it does this directly or through surrogates, the reminder that Oracle is a media-convicted trash-sorting secret-stealer will be run by way of simple Mirrors, plays that expose the truth, or Recasts, plays that spin the truth. But that, of course, will put one SAP foot into a well-laid trap because it will allow Oracle to run its own Mirrors on SAP’s possible new penchant for pinching private data.