EU probe 'costing Sun $100m a month'

Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison said late on Monday night that Sun Microsystems was losing $100m a month while European regulators scrutinize Oracle's acquisition plan for the hardware supplier. Antitrust regulators in Europe have taken a tougher line on competition issues, particularly in the technology industry. In this case they are examining whether Oracle's control over MySQL, an open-source Sun product, would stymie competition in the database software industry. Although Oracle also makes database software, Mr Ellison believes European regulators are misguided in their inquiries. "MySQL and Oracle do not compete at all," said Mr Ellison, adding that he would not sell MySQL.