Oracle wins America's Cup case

A New York court has cleared the way for a possible one-on-one showdown in ultra fast 90-foot trimarans between the San Francisco-based BMW Oracle Racing team and the Swiss Alinghi syndicate, the sailing team that has won the last two America's Cups.

After nearly two years of litigation, Thursday's unanimous ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals sets up the potential for a high-stakes grudge match between software tycoon Larry Ellison and pharmaceutical magnate Ernesto Bertarelli, if they can't agree soon on rules to involve additional challengers.

It is still unclear where and when the boats will compete for the oldest trophy in international sport - one that dates to 1851. But race organizers point to next year off Valencia, Spain, or elsewhere.

"The right to act as trustee of the America's Cup should be decided on the water and not in a courtroom," the court wrote in a 6-to-0 decision. Ellison and Bertarelli should "work together to maintain this noble sailing tradition as 'a perpetual challenge cup for friendly competition between foreign countries.' "

The court ruling was a victory for Ellison's BMW Oracle team, whose lawyers argued that Bertarelli had attempted to host the 33rd America's Cup with rules rigged to the Swiss team's advantage.

The ruling could also benefit fans of extreme sailing. The gargantuan trimarans designed and built in the past year by BMW Oracle and Alinghi are extremely fast, terribly difficult to race, outright dangerous and vulnerable in heavy winds and seas.

Eighteen teams from 11 countries had reserved a spot to begin cup trials in Valencia next spring in high-tech sailboats with only one keel.

Ellison's team chose court instead. His lawyers argued that Alinghi had formed a Spanish yacht club that had never held an offshore regatta. Although the club was the first to file a challenge, Ellison's lawyers argue that it was a bogus challenge designed to ensure Alinghi's preferred rules for the next race.

Bertarelli's lawyers countered that Ellison was attempting through litigation to eliminate other cup contenders and become a finalist in a one-on-one race with Alinghi, something that Ellison's team had never achieved on the water. Bertarelli said his rules would make the regatta more affordable to other teams.

The appellate judges reinstated a lower court ruling that had declared BMW Oracle the official "challenger of record" for the next regatta.

Ellison's team launched its 90-foot trimaran last fall and has been training on it. Bertarelli's team has yet to reveal its secret, multihull design.

"We're hoping that Alinghi will come back and renegotiate for the benefit of all the challengers," said Norbert Bajurin, a San Francisco mechanic and staff commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, BMW Oracle's sponsoring organization.

But, he added, if the rules cannot be agreed upon, the original "deed of gift" for the America's Cup calls for a two-boat duel between rivals to be held within 10 months.

Author: Jim Doyle at jdoyle@sfchronicle.com

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Oracle man to head up ECI Europe

ECi Software Solutions has named former Oracle Corporation executive Kees Vogelesang as SVP Operations for its European division, effective 1 April 2009. Most recently Kees served as Head of Business Operations – COO for Oracle‘s Strategic Accounts Sales division serving Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In his new role, he will be responsible for all operational activities for ECi Europe across its three locations in Amsterdam-Holland and Cambridge and Lincoln.

CEO ECi International Tom Kapp says: "We are very fortunate to have someone of Kees‘ calibre on board. Kees has a strong background in the IT Industry — most recently his 10-year run with Oracle — that includes leadership positions in both business and sales operations on a global scale. Among other initiatives, Kees will focus on strengthening both customer support and the ECi product set, which includes Progress-Bridge, Vision and EasyOrder.

Kapp also thanked recently departed ECi Europe CEO Ron Wotherspoon. He says: "Over the past 20-plus years, Ron and his team built Interactive Products into the leading software provider for the European office products industry. We wish Ron the very best in the next chapter of his life. He has been a good friend and has left a lasting impression on both ECi and the industry."

Wotherspoon also served for two years as Chairman of the BOSS Federation and in 2004 was presented with the BOSS Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition for his dedicated service.

Source: www.channelinfo.net

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Sabrix Leads Transaction Tax Management Industry With Successful Integrations to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12

Fortune 1000 Companies Extend Value of Oracle E-Business Suite and Enjoy Greater Financial Control. Sabrix, Inc., a leading provider of transaction tax management for companies of all sizes, today announced that the Sabrix Application Suite is in production at multiple customer sites using Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12. Sabrix customers, which include Fortune 1000 companies spanning construction, grocery, manufacturing, and energy and utilities markets, are fully exploiting the value of the latest release of the Oracle ERP platform and are leveraging Sabrix's tax solution to assure improved tax accuracy and compliance with confidence.

"Sabrix has a proven history of being first to market -- whether supporting the latest technology advances, like the Oracle 12 integration, or ensuring timely and accurate compliance with new tax legislation," said Stephen James, principal and international tax technology practice leader at Ryan, a Sabrix partner. "Their early commitment to support the latest Oracle 12 platform in June 2008 has now come to fruition in real production instances at enterprise-scale companies, reinforcing the fact that Sabrix is a proven and trusted vendor for customers considering tax automation in Oracle 12 environments."

Sabrix's customer deployments follow the general availability of Sabrix Integration for Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12, which was announced last June (see New Release of Sabrix Application Delivers End-User Benefits to Tax Professionals as well as Integration to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12). Sabrix customers on Oracle 12 have successfully implemented the Sabrix Application Suite to support accounts receivable (AR), order management (OM) and accounts payable (AP) modules. The integration provides a direct, point-to-point integration with Oracle 12, eliminating the need for a separate application server or middleware, lowering maintenance costs and simplifying the IT environment. IT and tax professionals no longer have to configure and maintain tax requirements in Oracle, speeding deployment, minimizing risks to the overall ERP project, and shortening time-to-value.

"Our proven integration experience with Oracle 12 ensures the highest level of service, reliability, and support for companies migrating to the Oracle 12 platform," said Pam Kostka, senior vice president of corporate marketing at Sabrix. "Our own in-house team of Oracle experts has spent the past year developing and testing, then implementing and supporting our solution for Oracle 12. The opportunity to be first to market and to gain tangible experience in enterprise-grade implementations ensures that customers and prospects will be able to enjoy the lessons learned that only practical experience in real world environments can teach."

About Sabrix

Sabrix, Inc. is a leading provider of transaction tax management for companies of all sizes, enabling finance, tax, and IT professionals to achieve accurate, timely, and cost-effective compliance for sales tax, use tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), excise tax and industry-specific taxes and fees. The Sabrix Application Suite™ serves global enterprises such as Amazon.com, BASF, Cisco, DTE Energy, IBM, QUALCOMM, Sportsman's Warehouse, and York International. The Sabrix Application Suite seamlessly connects to all financial applications requiring the determination, calculation, and recording of transaction taxes. The company also offers the Sabrix Managed Tax Service™ (MTS), an outsourced transaction tax compliance service that helps finance departments of small-and-medium-sized businesses eliminate the hassle, control their audit exposure, and reduce the total cost of sales tax, use tax, and VAT compliance. Sabrix MTS seamlessly integrates with a company's existing accounting and e-commerce systems, and, similar to outsourced payroll services, operates as a trusted extension of a company's finance department to address tax compliance from start to finish: address validation, tax rate maintenance, tax determination and calculation, returns preparation and filing as well as audit research and documentation. For more information, please visit www.sabrix.com.

Sabrix, Sabrix Application Suite, Sabrix Managed Tax Service and Sabrix MTS are trademarks of Sabrix, Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Source: www.marketwire.com

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