By Don Miller Associate Editor Money Morning In a surprise move yesterday (Monday), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) pounced on the opportunity to buy Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA), for about $7.4 billion in cash, stepping in after Sun’s talks with International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) fell apart. The deal gives Oracle control of server and software maker Sun’s coveted Java programming language and brings to a close Sun’s 27-year reign as the maverick of Silicon Valley. Java is the dominant language of the Internet and runs on over 1 billion devices worldwide. The acquisition is in line with Oracle’s overall business strategy. Oracle, the world’s second-biggest software maker, has dropped $34.5 billion on buyouts since 2005, making it the most aggressive software company in the hi-tech field. "The deal would strengthen Oracle’s position against IBM. Oracle has done a good job ...

We recently had a chance to interview Maureen Wolff-Reid (bio at the end of the article), a pioneer in the investor relations and corporate communications industry.  She is a past chairman of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and President and Partner of Sharon Merrill Associates in Boston.  This post originally appeared on New Rules of Investing.

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It seems in regard to newer channels of communication, Reg FD has led to a diminishing in frequency of communications.  In spite of leveling the investment playing field, is this a long-term good for investors? Maureen Wolff-Reid, President: Reg FD has largely succeeded in leveling the playing field while maintaining the frequency of communications between companies and the investment community.  This is a long-term good as investors have a higher degree of confidence that they can make educated investment decisions with access to the same information as any other investor.

What’s the communication plan

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