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Oracle is funding an anti-Google non-profit campaign

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Three months have passed since Oracle lost its big copyright case against Google but Oracle refuses to sit back and still nurses a grudge. The software company is not just pushing for a fresh trial in court; it has also confirmed to Fortune that it's funding Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a non-profit advocacy group with a decidedly anti-Google bent.

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While CfA promotes some common causes, such as fighting "big oil" and promoting LGBT rights, it also has a Google Transparency Project that aims to "track the company's influence" on government and personal lives. And not surprisingly, most of it is critical -- the project is obsessed with the possible ethical implications of Google's White House meetings.

According to CfA Executive Director Anne Weismann, “Google has long been a strong advocate of transparency in government, business, and even users’ private lives. It has not, however, been transparent about its own dealings with the government.”

What’s ironic here is that CfA isn't very transparent about its own membership either. Microsoft has explicitly denied funding the group, however, so it's not necessarily a haven for tech giants with an axe to grind.Interestingly, Oracle stepped forward to confirm that it is surely one of the contributors to the project. Ken Glueck, Senior Vice President of Oracle confirmed the investment and said, “Oracle is absolutely a contributor (one of many) to the Transparency Project. This is important information for the public to know. It is 100 percent public records and accurate.”

A transparency project shedding light on Google’s illegal lobbying practices is surely a welcome endeavor, however, the big concern here is that Oracle might be using CfA as an astroturfing (grassroots practice) to undermine the former.

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