America 1982

Delia walked out of the regular office and walked towards the independent reception room exclusive for partners. Through the bright glass, Kane saw Delia walking towards the reception room. He stood up first and said to Tommy who was sitting next to him. Said to Sophia:

"Ms. Case is here."

The two of them stood up humbly and waited for the other person to walk in. Sophia couldn't hide the excitement on her face, and even squeezed Tommy's little finger with her hand to express her feelings about meeting her idol and Tommy. -Hawk, this bastard, finally kept his word for once.

Although there are many female lawyers practicing in the United States, most of them work in firms established after World War II. Those old white-shoe firms may recruit some female lawyers, but often those female lawyers have little chance of advancement.

It’s not about gender discrimination or inequality. On the contrary, the lawyer profession is very equal in the United States. It is because of equality that it is more difficult for female lawyers to get ahead.

Male lawyers can go on vacations with their clients and politicians, have fun together, and even go to high-end clubs to have sex with prostitutes to get closer to each other. But what should female lawyers do? Even if she doesn't mind, the other person will.

Therefore, in addition to cooperating with work, clients, politicians, and bosses are basically in a state of complete separation from female lawyers. They cannot blend into those circles full of male chauvinism, cannot obtain truly influential case sources, and will only continue to He distanced himself from those male lawyers, and eventually had no choice but to rely on his resume working in a white-shoe firm to switch to an ordinary firm with a high salary. In the end, he would never be associated with the elite again.

This is why every time a female partner is born in an elite white-shoe law firm, it is regarded as major news in the industry. After all, the top twenty law firms in the United States with the title of white-shoe have to go back to the last time a female partner was born. More than 20 years ago, in 1959, a woman named Elizabeth Meagher did it at Skadden, the second-largest law firm in the United States.

The second one was Delia Keyes, who was walking towards the reception room at this time, with neat silver hair and wearing a black ladies' suit. She joined Davis Polk Law Firm in 1971 and spent eleven years. Became the second female partner of an elite white-shoe firm.

These two women are the idols of all law school girls in the United States, and Sophia is of course no exception. Not all girls have the opportunity to meet these two people. Girls like Sophia who are studying at Stanford University Law School will not be able to do anything without the recommendation of important clients. He is not even qualified to enter a firm like Davis Polk as an intern.

For law students, if you are not from Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, or University of Chicago Law School, there is basically a 95% chance that you will not have any intersection with such a white-shoe firm in your career, unless you Become their customer.

"Tommy? Sophia?" Delia walked in and said their names generously: "Good morning. I'm sorry that I'm late. Today's regular meeting is a bit long."

Tommy reached out his hand: "Nice to meet you, Ms. Case."

"Ms. Case, after we finish talking about the business, can I take a photo with you? I even bought a Polaroid camera just to see you." Sophia waited for Tommy to finish shaking hands with the other party, and her face was filled with tears. He stepped forward with reverence, stretched out his hand to Delia and said.

Delia smiled and nodded: "Of course, no problem. Meeting you is like seeing myself twenty years ago. I said the same thing when I first met Ms. Elizabeth Meagher."

After letting go of Sophia's hand, Delia sat down in her seat, bounced her hands on the table, and said very fast:

"OK, the regular meeting was delayed for a few minutes, so we'd better make up for the lost time. This is the end of the pleasantries and let's talk about the topic. Kane, prepare some coffee for us, Actor Company, right? Mr. Tommy Hawke I founded a software company. I took a look at the information currently available. According to the U.S. maritime law system and the previous judgments of the same or similar cases, what Actor Company did is undoubtedly a violation of copyright law. You copied Lotus Company’s interface. , function, and even the other party has a special edition in his hand, and you thoughtfully inserted the code written by the other party’s company boss into it to pay tribute to the other party and also left tangible evidence for the other party, right?”

Tommy nodded and did not refute: "But if we just plagiarize, I think Ms. Keys will not be interested in you."

"Of course, when the lady named Holly Keener from Actor contacted me, she mentioned some public issues, such as female employment and equal rights, and then said that your income seems to be used for charity and has not been included in My own pocket, this is the main reason why I am interested in listening to the end." Delia stared at Tommy Hawke who was sitting down again with a calm face and said:

"I want to hear what kind of contribution Actor has made to women's employment, equal rights and other activities. This way, we can gain a firm foothold from a moral level. If the other party doesn't want their image to be damaged because of this, they may be able to Completion of settlement before trial.”

Tommy clenched his hand into a fist and put it to his lips, biting it gently. After about five or six seconds, he put down his hand and said to Delia: "Based on what you said just now, Ms. Case, I thought about you for a while. The idea is that you think Actor Company has infringed the law, so you want to understand the influence of Actor Company in those public welfare activities, and make sure that the income earned by Actor Company does not fall into my pocket, but continues to support public welfare undertakings. In this way, even if During the trial, when you learn that everything the Actor did was only for public welfare activities and was not used for pure profit, you can also use this point to convince the jurors and finally get the most favorable verdict. In other words, it is better to worry about reputation damage. Reach a settlement with the injured party.”

"Based on the current understanding, this is the best result." Delia nodded and said.

Tommy looked at Delia and asked a question: "I guess you are referring to previous cases, the 1981 case in which Stern Games sued the Almighty Video Game for infringement?"

"Yes, this case has become a precedent for the US court to rule that computer programs infringe copyright, confirming that the copyright of computer programs includes images, sounds and codes." Delia flipped through the notebook at hand and said affirmatively.

Tommy pursed his lips: "Very good, first of all, I am very sure that OSS does not infringe on the sound and code. There is only one question that remains unresolved, and that is, should the operation interface of the computer program be counted as an audio-visual work? What happened? The case in 1981 involved two games. Their sounds, pictures, and codes were almost identical. It was normal for them to be found guilty of infringement. However, computer programs were different. Unlike games, which are audio-visual works that provide changeable pictures, they only had An operation interface is not even a screen, there are no paintings, it is just a layout of menus and commands. This is currently not defined. I think if you ask your colleagues who are proficient in copyright law and literary works law to discuss this point, you will find that this is very important. Fun, interface, is it an operating habit or a patent protected by copyright?"

"Second point, if the answer to the first point is operating habits, then the second question is, is software reverse engineering illegal? In other words, I made a similar software based on Lotus software, but the specific code to achieve recovery is different from It is completely different. Is this behavior illegal? The computer software industry also has no clear regulations. As a friendly reminder, reverse engineering in other industries is not illegal. Please refer to the 1972 Yacht War."

"The third point is the compatibility issue. OSS can open files generated by Lotus software, but please note that it is only in read-only form. My software will use obvious signs to remind customers that WKE files can only be opened in read-only form. This function is only to help Do the customer a favor, so as not to run two software in a hurry, so open the software that is compatible with read-only. Any modification of Lotus software files by OSS is the customer's own behavior and has nothing to do with our company. We have set a read-only restriction, which is just a restriction. It may be easier to crack. If the other party insists on this infringement, we can delete this function in the future, which is intended to provide customers with work efficiency."

Delia listened to Tommy speak his thoughts, thought for more than ten seconds, and finally shook her head: "Tommy, you obviously did a lot of understanding of related cases with Sophia. According to you, your code, voice There is no plagiarism of Lotus, it is just an operation interface. You need to let the court give an answer. Should this be regarded as an operating habit that is convenient for users, or a software patent protected by copyright? This is very important. You want to make it into software. Industry precedent, right?”

Tommy nodded: "Yes, this is crucial."

"Let me tell you the cruel truth. You sent a letter of defense, which means you have no objections and accepted the Massachusetts court to accept the case. The other party's firm is Hale \u0026 Dole, which is almost the same as us in the industry. The most important thing is that the old white-shoe firm is headquartered in Boston. In this kind of case, you want the court to make a biased verdict. The most important problem is to get the jury. Believe me, those judges, clerks, and jurors No one is really proficient in copyright law. To be a judge in the United States, you don’t need to be proficient in all laws, but you need to deal with them. Do you understand? You hope that a twelve-person jury in the Massachusetts court will support you. At least four key jurors must be settled in advance. They are the four people who can influence the final vote of other jurors. I guess Lotus has taken care of all this at this time. Even if you are unwilling to appeal to the circuit court, you will still end up like this. It is so cruel. Do you think you have a chance to attract the jurors? People attract attention, but I tell you, money can solve everything, you and Actor will fail and continue to be unknown." Delia took a sip of the coffee that Kane helped bring and continued:

"Unless you tell me now that you have abundant funds, you can use 50 million or 100 million for me to mobilize all my power to help you manage everything in Massachusetts, from investigating and collecting evidence to lobbying jurors, at all costs, and even helping You try every means to move the court to California. Otherwise, no one cares about whether your operating interface is customary or a patent point of debate. Do you think those precedents become precedents just because they are worth it? The answer is, No, in all commercial law in the United States "Only when both sides are evenly matched and their camps continue to expand will they have the opportunity to become a precedent through influence."

Seeing that Tommy didn't speak, Delia shrugged and put down her coffee:

"So, I suggest you talk to me about those public welfare activities, increase settlements or win sympathy points from the jury, and ultimately strive to avoid compensation. You only need to stop the infringement and hand over relevant data."

"That is to say, we will fall completely when the opponent hits us, right? There is no way to fight back." Tommy lowered his head and rubbed his hands, as if talking to himself or asking a question.

Delia replied: "Yes, that's why I gave the suggestion to use charity activities to gain points and win sympathy."

"I don't want to fall down at the first blow, nor do I want to reconcile with the other party. If I remember correctly, Ms. Case, the United States has an amicus curiae system, right? Amicus curiae can voluntarily provide relevant information or legal opinions. Give the legal documents to the court to assist the proceedings and let the judge and jury know what the disputes are." Tommy raised his head and looked at Delia and said.

Delia frowned slightly: "You mean, you found a few classmates from Stanford Law School to help you stand up in court. Listen to me, Tommy, in Massachusetts, if you use this method to try to influence the verdict, it will only Anger the court and the jury, as I just said, that is their territory, and you have to have a strong enough influence."

"No, one hundred and seventy-six public welfare organizations registered as non-profit legal advocacy organizations with a total number of more than 30,000 members are willing to submit documents to the court as amicus curiae regarding this lawsuit and provide legal advice on the infringements in this case. It elaborates one hundred and seventy-six arguments in all aspects and intervenes in the judgment of the case. Because it is a non-profit organization and a legal advocacy organization, the documents of these organizations will be more valued by the court. In other words, if the court makes the same decision as all courts If there is a conflicting ruling by the amicus, these non-profit legal advocacy organizations can directly challenge the higher court to challenge the unclear and unclear decisions made by the judges and jurors." Tommy Hawke looked at Delia:

"Do you think one hundred and seventy-six non-profit organizations and the special attention of more than 30,000 people are enough to withstand the blows of state courts and circuit courts? If not, they can fly to hold a press conference outside the Massachusetts court at any time. More than a hundred prostitutes, followed by unmobilized forces including the 20,000 living members of the SSD fraternity and the reserve forces of Florida."

"One hundred and seventy-six? Non-profit legal advocacy organization?" A trace of surprise flashed across Delia's face. She couldn't help but open the folder and looked at Actor's company information again: "And they also prepared a detailed Explain the document?"

It's an ordinary small company, founded by Stanford University students, passionate about charity, nothing more.

It’s not surprising for amicus curiae to appear in a lawsuit, and it’s not surprising for a company with a lot of money to directly find hundreds of amicus curiae to support itself, but at this time, Tommy Hawke said that among the 176 amicus curiae, Friends of the Court are non-profit legal advocacy organizations. In other words, they are one hundred and seventy-six organizations registered for the purpose of calling for various legislation or advocating legal reforms. The most important friends of the court are the friends of the court. First, they have national institutions. Public servants in their positions, and the second is this kind of non-profit legal advocacy organization.

The most important thing is that these organizations must have their own lawyers, which means that the organization must have a fixed donation to hire lawyers to be responsible for the organization's legal firm, and the document submitted to the court must also be a professional hired by the organization. Drafted by attorney.

It can never be the kind of grass-roots team established by three or two founders.

"There are one hundred and seventy-six university women's rights organizations. If the Stanford Association for the Advancement of Women's Equality is excluded on the grounds of being closely related to the litigants, that number will be one hundred and seventy-five." Tommy stared calmly. Looking at Delia: "Do you think these are enough to block..."

Delia interrupted Tommy with a firm tone: "It's enough to catch the other side off guard. If you show these cards, Lotus can only try to delay the time and spend a lot of time to find ways to offset the influence of these amicus curiae on the court." , but I am curious about another question. From this incident, I realized that you can put together such a force to help your small company besiege Lotus, an upstart in the software industry. It is unlikely that you can make such mistakes as infringement. people."

"This is another question I want to talk about. Do you still remember the special edition in the other party's hands? When the other party is caught off guard and tries to reconcile or delay this period, Actor wants to counter-sue Lotus for plagiarism. They must maintain normal software updates, no matter they launch Is the new function plagiarized? Believe me, there must be similar functions to OSS in the update plan, and I am sure that Lotus programmers must have seen my version of the software. As long as they have seen it, it is an opportunity to throw dirty water. Of course , this requires you, Attorney Case, to show your ability and find a way to get the programmer's testimony from Lotus during the evidence collection stage or the other party is willing to become a witness." Tommy said to Delia:

"My company does not make profits, and I personally do not make profits. Naturally, I will not make mistakes. Even if I lose the infringement, I can use non-profit to minimize the trouble. It is nothing more than closing the company and handing over the data. My own moral perspective Good behavior will prevent me from going to jail, but I am not an ordinary insect, I am a firefly. I do not make profits. The jury can forgive me from the moral level for infringement, but I want to shine a bright light. Lotus is a commercial company. Plagiarism by commercial companies, or even suspected plagiarism, is fatal when there are enemies and opponents everywhere."

Delia tried hard to digest it for more than ten seconds before slowing down her speech. Her eyes changed from the previous indifference to a more appreciative look, but she still expressed her opinions truthfully:

"If the other party notices your intention and announces the cancellation of the update, your long-prepared attack will be in vain. You can't get anything by countersuing. You might as well wait until the other party officially updates and launches the update before countersuing, and you can claim compensation."

Tommy made a gesture of spreading his hands towards her: "No, I don't want anything, no compensation. Actor is a small company that focuses on public welfare. It's not for compensation or settlement fees. Lotus wants to solve our problem." The counterclaim is very simple. Disclosure of its development progress and code is used to prove innocence. Actor's disclosure of OSS software has no impact on me. However, if Lotus is made public, it means that its clothes are taken off and the company's main business is exposed to everyone. Light, and if it refuses to make it public, at this time, the large software companies that are coveting the Lotus market and looking for opportunities to add insult to injury will naturally join as the second wave of amicus curiae, as long as they are not idiots. Based on the exposure of Lotus They will use the weak points to attack Lotus more violently, and they will not stop until the Actor's hand is used to beat Lotus to the point where his vitality is severely damaged."

"You have done so much, but you have never thought about earning benefits for yourself? Even at this point, you and the Actor Company are just tools for those big companies, and they are free." Delia said with a hint of voice. Feeling a little excited, he subconsciously licked his lips.

Tommy laughed: "No, those big companies will then use the war between the little bug Actor and the elephant Lotus to solve the second issue that may be included in the computer software industry's jurisprudence. Should software standards be unified? , or split. If Lotus refuses to make it public, it means it has chosen to split. Big companies naturally know better than me how to deal with Lotus. You don’t need to be taught how to eat meat. Eating is a biological instinct."

"In 1979, IBM almost became an elephant like Lotus. In the end, it would rather lose some of its profits than become an elephant besieged by a group of people. It sued Oracle and quickly withdrew the lawsuit. It was not because it wanted to reconcile with Oracle. Rather, it is waiting for the legal provisions to be perfected, to help it apply a protective coating, and then attack steadily to solve Oracle, trying to avoid the situation of Lotus today. It is clear that it has done nothing wrong, but these companies in the industry just want to take the opportunity to eat up. It." Sophia suddenly remembered when Tommy told her about the case in 1979 that was quickly eliminated as soon as it happened. At this time, she looked at the expressionless Tommy next to her in shock and said:

"From the day Actor was established, its purpose was... to help those companies that built the ecological environment in your mouth find prey and then replace them."

"The result I want is that whether software standards are unified or separated in the future, it has nothing to do with Lotus. It will be excluded and replaced by a weaker and harmless Actor company. Through this case, it will replace it and participate in the computer industry." Software standards, especially the formulation of standards for office software subdivision projects." Tommy ignored Sophia's words and looked at Delia:

"At that time, I can say to everyone who supports Actor, justice has defeated evil, and we have defeated capital."

Delia let out a heavy breath: "Actor is a small company in the eye of the storm. Are you sure it can still exist after Lotus is solved?"

"Definitely, it's only weak when I need it. I've asked members of the SSD fraternity headquarters to help contact SSD alumnus Henry Perot, whose EDS has been working as a contractor to provide office system support to the U.S. government. , although he has not self-researched, he will be interested in getting involved in software standards. If he is not interested, I still have a friend. At that time, Actor has passed the most difficult moment for me, and I can ask him to come up with two Invest tens of millions in Actor.”

"Very well, stop enjoying the wonderful future. I care about one thing now. How much are you going to pay me? Tommy." Delia interrupted Tommy and laughed: "I am very touched by this case. If you are interested, but if you don’t have money, obviously don’t expect me to help you.”

Tommy also laughed: "We are so happy talking about justice and public welfare, but in the end it is inevitable to be objectified. Ms. Case, your greedy face makes me a little sad."

"My hourly consulting fee is 260 yuan. Calculated based on the time of the previous case process, the total work time during the evidence collection and disclosure stage is about 120 hours, and the cost is about 32,000 yuan. This does not include my hiring as a lawyer. Other lawyers formed a team and hired a professional investigation agency to collect evidence. During the court session, my total working time was about 175 hours and the cost was 46,000 yuan. Your counterclaim or appeal will take about 120 hours. Three Twelve thousand yuan. In order to help the employer gain a chance of winning or to set up obstacles for the other party in a court battle, it may be necessary to apply to the court to launch various motions. This is an uncertain expense. It is a rough calculation. I just want me to accompany you from beginning to end. It will cost you about 200,000 to complete the entire case. The other team's lawyers and evidence collection fees will probably cost at least 200,000, which is a total of 400,000. This is only the best-case scenario quote. If the other party delays, it will be extended. At any time, it will rise rapidly." Delia smiled at Tommy and said:

"Of course, you don't need to pay the full amount, but if you want to sign a contract with this law firm, you have to pay at least 100,000 yuan in upfront fees."

"If you don't mind giving me a detailed quotation and don't worry about my charging price being disclosed, I think the price is very reasonable. You know that I am a public-spirited person and it is unlikely that I will spend so much money myself, so... ..." Tommy rubbed his hands: "I have to ask other people to take out the money, such as selling the software to supporters in Florida, such as selling it to the one hundred and seventy-six organizations? Or some other payment methods, But don’t worry, I will never waste the money I owe the lawyer.”

"The company was founded with funding from Stanford University's entrepreneurial support funds, and the cost of the lawsuit against Lotus was raised by selling infringing Lotus software. If you lose the lawsuit, you don't need to bear the blame personally, but if you win, you will reap all the fame and fortune." Delia looked at the young man in cold clothes in front of her, as if she didn't know how to evaluate him, and finally she could only sigh:

"You shouldn't bully those poor programmers, you should study political science and become a politician."

"If I were a politician, you must be careful, Ms. Case. Politicians will not pay bills easily." Tommy stood up, walked to Delia, and stretched out his hand to her: "It's a pleasure to work with you."

Delia ignored Tommy's teasing, stood up and shook hands with Tommy: "It's a pleasure to work together."

I’m too lazy to divide it into chapters, so I’ve released the second and third updates together, about 7,000 words~