The European Union, like the Justice Department before it, is objecting to any merger.

By statute the EU has to make a final decision by May 11, a month give or take before the DOJ and Oracle meet in court on June 7.

Apparently, if Oracle comes up with a better argument than anything it's offered so far, it could still get Europe's clearance.

Meanwhile, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the proxy service whose profile was raised when Walter Hewlitt challenged HP's acquisition of Compaq, recommended that PeopleSoft shareholders vote to confirm the PeopleSoft board.

It said it considered siding with Oracle because PeopleSoft's money-back guarantee to customers if Oracle took over was over-the-top, but then so was Oracle when it said it was going to terminate PeopleSoft's products when it made its first bid so ISS figured one move canceled out the other and sided with PeopleSoft.

In the run-up to the trial, Oracle, however reluctantly, agreed to turn over its discount schedules to the DOJ, which wants them to show how deeply Oracle discounts in a competitive situation and Microsoft, which Oracle claims should be considered a competitive factor, has turned over something like 20,000 page of confidential internal documents to the Justice Department that have been put under seal to keep them away from Oracle. Microsoft, which is looking to the court to increase the protective order, has contradicted Oracle and said it won't be in the race for another two years.

• P'Soft to Oracle: What Is It about 'NO!' You Don't Understand?
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• Oracle's PeopleSoft Takeover Bid Can Go Ahead, Judge Rules