I join you in suspecting that Oracle and the EU are trying to work
things out, but I think the strong oar in this regard is the EU. Note
that only a day or two before FT announced a statement of objections had to be imminent because of timing consider-ations, suddenly it's pushed to the end of November, Yes, suddenly but not remarkably. Because what happened just before the change of date? The WSJ published details of a letter from the head of SAP to Larry Ellison suggesting if Oracle dropped a lawsuit against them it could make Oracle's EU problem go away, this in turn emitting a clear whiff of possibly scandalous collusion between SAP and the EU, and though the EU might in fact be innocent here, the appearance
of collusion would be a black cloud over Kroes' head should she rule against Oracle so that the Eu is now saying, "Er -uh - can't we all get along?" Note that Ellison canceled an appearance here in the US a couple of days ago. I suspect it's because he can't be in Brussellsand the U.S. at the same time.
Maybe wishfl thinking. But, as you say: "Maybe not."