America 1982

When the First Circuit Court of the United States once again ruled in favor of Lotus, Robert Morley became increasingly anxious. Lotus seemed to be slipping into the abyss step by step without realizing it.

This lawsuit is attracting more and more attention because all users who use OSS are invisibly tied into it, and they are more concerned about the final outcome of this lawsuit than ordinary people.

Although Jim Manz left Lotus, his lawyer was not completely replaced by the newly appointed Byron Kennedy. Of course, he is no longer the chief lawyer. Byron Kennedy hired Bai Bai from the Skadden Law Firm. A big shoe lawyer, a man who could be Robert's teacher, took over the case. Now Robert is just a member of the team and is responsible for some auxiliary work.

The graceful Byron Kennedy appeared outside Robert's office door with brisk steps, gently knocked on the door panel, and asked him affectionately: "Robert, do you have time?"

"Of course." Robert was curious that the other party would actually come to see him. Since Jim resigned, Lotus Company has always called him to communicate. This is the first time that the new vice president has come to visit in person.

He stood up and poured the other person a glass of water himself, and then looked at the man with the iconic nose of the Kennedy family, with doubts in his eyes: "So, Mr. Kennedy, why do you have time to come here? If you have work arrangements, it's totally fine." Have someone else call me and let me know.”

"The other party has appealed to the Supreme Court, and the other party's counterclaim has also been transferred to the Supreme Court. What do you think of this issue?" Byron Kennedy sat on the sofa opposite Robert, gently moving his cervical spine, as if chatting. , asked Robert.

Robert had some confusion on his face. Asking his own opinion was of no use now. The whole world knew that Lotus Company had been bitten. Only the two founders of the company and the guy from the Kennedy family in front of him couldn't see clearly. Byron -Kennedy is also increasing his efforts to lobby politicians to help Lotus intervene in the lawsuit as an amicus curiae.

"Well, the Supreme Court now requires the parties and the amicus curiae who are paying attention to this lawsuit to submit documents and answer several questions before the final pre-trial conference. Congress seems to be considering arranging a hearing to deal with Lotus. Very disadvantageous.”

These remarks are not alarmist. The judges of the Supreme Court directly raised four questions for the parties and the amicus curiae to answer before the pre-trial conference, and reached some consensus agreements on the same views during the pre-trial conference.

The first question is how to treat non-profit infringement and Section 506 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act. The second question is whether the software interface is a protected patent or a user habit. The third question is, giving in to Actor for free Temptation, whether hundreds of thousands of users who use and learn OSS software are suspected of participating in infringement activities, leading to the expansion of the influence of infringement activities and causing more losses to Lotus. The fourth question is the standard definition of computer software patents and copyrights.

The amicus curiae on Lotus's side are all politicians or public officials. They know their answers with their butts and do not have any professional reference for the court.

But as Actor lost the case, in addition to the 176 non-profit organizations, there is now an organization called EFF stepping in as amicus curiae. At the same time, IBM, Compaq, Microsoft, MicroPort, Baolan and other software companies have intervened as amicus curiae, and all of them are practitioners in the software industry. From a professional perspective, the judge will of course refer to the answers of these software practitioners.

The Supreme Court attaches great importance to these friends of the court. Congress has even established a committee for this case and is preparing to invite some software companies to attend the hearing as witnesses to listen to them give their professional opinions on some doubts about this case. Now all involved Everyone realizes that they have arrived at an important moment, which is the opening of the court.

Except for the two nerds at Lotus who are still very happy about winning two lawsuits.

What does this mean? It means that the other party has prepared everything. Several major software companies in this industry have already discussed it and opened their mouths to tear into pieces the Lotus company that ranks first in the spreadsheet software industry. After killing it, Everyone is sitting down to discuss industry standards.

"This is what I am going to talk to you about. I asked the company to spend another five million in lobbying and public relations expenses. Do you or Hale \u0026 Dole have any powerful people in this field who can do public relations? I can use this money. Set aside a portion of it to pay to the lobbying firm you recommended." Byron Kennedy said to Robert.

"Mr. Kennedy, do you really think we have a chance of winning? I don't know what your chief lawyer promised you, but in my opinion, we have no chance of winning at all. Former Vice President Jim Manz has already realized this problem , that’s why I chose to resign.” Seeing that this guy still refused to give up and continued to use money to prepare for public relations, Robert couldn’t help lowering his voice and asked the other party:

"Can Lotus spend money to buy out all those large software companies to support Lotus, let Lotus participate in their games, and choose to abandon Actor? Impossible."

"Jim Manz is a kind asshole, Robert. I think you are somewhat similar to him, but you obviously don't realize how the game is going to play out. Let me tell you, I have known for a long time that Lotus has no chance, but it doesn't hinder I am the vice president of this company. During this time, I have made a fortune for my friends. Do you think I am going to turn the tide? No, I am just using Lotus money to maintain my own connections. My friends It has been known for a long time, so the first two lawsuits helped Lotus." Seeing Robert reminding himself that he had no chance of winning, Byron Kennedy laughed:

"Losing the lawsuit does not conflict with us making money from this lawsuit, right? It's like if you lose the lawsuit in the end, Lotus will also pay you. My friends are not grateful to Lotus, but they all thank me, even after losing the lawsuit. , we should continue to let Lotus spend money to lobby for legislation. The reason why I keep you in the team is that I think I will become friends with you. Lawyers will become politicians sooner or later. I believe that in more than ten years, you will also consider it. Become a parliamentarian who pleads for the people.”

Seeing the smile on the other side, Robert couldn't help but think of what Jim Mantz said to him when he said goodbye after he resigned: "Sooner or later, those two nerds will have their wallets emptied and live on the streets."

Comparing Jim with Mr. Kennedy, Robert felt that Lotus's survival today was all because they hired Jim. As soon as Jim left, the entire company immediately changed from a software giant to a fat player in the industry. It was obvious that everyone knew that Actor was in the wrong. Yes, but they will stand on that side and only declare that this behavior is wrong after using Actor to kill Lotus. We must legislate to improve it to prevent this from happening again. Even our own vice president just wants to bite a piece of it. Just self-enrichment.

"Then what else can I say? On behalf of my powerful friends, I would like to thank you for your trust. They will definitely try their best." Robert sighed, dismissed the occasional thoughts of conscience, and smiled at Byron Kennedy. .

After uploading the last update, I have been sitting in front of the computer until now, and I have only typed out 2,000 words. I am stuck until I can't help it. I feel like there is a problem with every word I write, but I can't find the problem. Go to sleep first to avoid sudden death. Wake up from sleep Continue coding...