US green lights Oracle's Sun buyout

Department of Justice finds no anti-trust issues with database giant's prospective ownership of Java platform

Ready to go: Sun's acquisition of Oracle will go ahead if the EC ratifies the deal

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has given Oracle'sacquisition of Sun Microsystems the go-ahead after ruling that the database giant's ownership of Java will not violate anti-trust laws.

The Java platform is nigh on ubiquitous in cell phones and mobile devices and Oracle's middleware also runs on it. If and when the acquisition goes ahead, Oracle will become the owner of the majority of the world's web-based networking software.

Oracle and Sun agreed the $7.4bn (£4.5bn) deal in April but the DOJ has been thrashing out the legal implications for longer than many industry onlookers expected. The acquisition is now subject to approval by the European Commission.