America 1982

Washington Supreme Court Building, court hearing scene.

In the ruling court, there was far less tension than imagined by the media and the public who were waiting for the news. At this moment, the representatives of amicus curiae in the spectator seats were like statues carved in stone, looking at the judges on the rostrum with expressionless faces.

Scenes such as lawyers slobbering and impassioned, and judges constantly waving their gavels to signal silence that are often seen on TV are completely invisible in the Supreme Court.

The legal teams on both sides are very rational and always remain calm. They often don't even wait for the judge to speak. They just make a gesture and the lawyers on both sides will understand the judge's intention. They will either stop questioning the witness immediately, or adjust the questions according to the judge's requirements, asking questions and questions. issues more closely related to this case.

Because this is the Supreme Court, if you express dissatisfaction with the justice on the stage or respond slowly, the other party will easily find you in contempt of court, and being kicked out of the court is the lightest punishment. If you really make the other party unhappy, you may even Will be punished by the Bar Association.

As for why behavior in court will be punished by the Bar Association, of course all the big figures in the American judiciary have lawyer licenses and are members of the Bar Association, including the justice on the stage.

The two professions of lawyers and judges in the American judiciary have always been constantly changing, and there is no clear dividing line.

There is no jury in the Supreme Court that can be seen in the other two courts. There are five judges on the rostrum, one presiding judge and four associate judges. And everyone knows that when the trial is over, no jury votes. The outcome is decided by a vote by the nine judges of the Supreme Court in a conference of judges.

"I feel that the United States can actually function normally without laws, Holly? Do you feel this way?" Jason White, who was sitting in the client's seat, lowered his voice and said to Holly next to him:

"I mean, after nearly a year, Actor Company finally reached its third trial. The judge handed down the penalty by vote. The first two times it was the jury, and this time it was the judge. If so, we have to What does the law do? Why not just let the plaintiffs and defendants play guessing games in front of the public. The winner wins the lawsuit and the loser loses the lawsuit. Two out of three games represent the three-level court system in the United States."

Holly glanced at the rostrum to make sure that the judge had not noticed Jason: "Shut up, Jason, and let your emotions develop. If you mess up, you know Tommy's methods, and he will definitely make you pay a heavy price." .”

At this time, Jon Meyer, the chief lawyer of the plaintiff Lotus Company in this case and a partner of Skadden Law Firm, was summoning the expert witness of the defendant Actor Company, Dan Bricklin, CEO of Soft Arts Company, to the court. Ask questions of a professional nature.

The so-called expert witnesses, different from factual witnesses, refer to people with professional experience in the field of the case. The testimony they give in court represents the opinions of industry professionals rather than factual evidence of what happened.

Actor Company has prepared several such expert witnesses. They are actually similar in nature to amicus curiae. One is to use professional words to give opinions to the court, and the other is to call professionals to the scene to give opinions to the court to increase persuasion as much as possible. The judge favored Actor.

Before speaking, expert witnesses from both sides often need to undergo scrutiny questioning by the other party's lawyer to determine whether the other party is professional. If the expert witness's answer is raised by the lawyer, the expert witness may not even have the opportunity to speak formally. Just ask him out of the court on the grounds that his professionalism is questioned, and let the next one come in.

Thirty-three-year-old Dan Bricklin sat on the witness stand, nodding to indicate to the judge that he was ready.

After the judge announced the start of the interrogation, Jon Meyer stood up from his lawyer's desk, walked to Dan Bricklin and stood about five meters away, staring condescendingly into Dan Bricklin's eyes, as if he was ready at any time. Rushing forward to grab Dan Bricklin's collar.

This made Dan Bricklin, a highly intelligent engineer who developed the spreadsheet software VisiCala and is recognized by the software industry as the "Father of Spreadsheets," shrink back subconsciously.

Delia Keys observed Jon Meyer's movements and looked at her companions from time to time. As long as her companions gave a confirmed answer, she would immediately speak to stop Jon Meyer's movements, but unfortunately , no one gave her a definite answer.

The court stipulated that without the permission of the judge, lawyers from both sides are not allowed to come within five meters of the witness to avoid putting pressure on the witness at close range and causing negligence in the witness's testimony.

If Jon Meyer steps within five meters and Delia Keys stops her, the court's impression of Lotus will be lowered. On the contrary, if Jon Meyer does not violate the court's regulations, he rashly If you open your mouth, the judge will question his professionalism.

On the stage of the Supreme Court, lawyers have to constantly look for weapons that can attack their opponents from any aspect, subtle movements, vague wording and even the pitch of the voice, etc., because the understanding of the law is no longer important here, and even everything that happens at this moment has already It doesn't matter. Maybe the justices already have a favorable answer and are just waiting for the trial to end to complete the vote.

This is the fantasy of American justice. People outside are waiting for the result, but as lawyers, they all understand that most of this is just a formality. Unless there is extremely exaggerated evidence and testimony that can affect the judgment, the result is unlikely. Changes occur.

Jon Meyer stared at Dan Bricklin and spoke word by word: "Mr. Witness, as the head of a software company, do you think it will take a long time to develop a software with spreadsheet functions and electronic document functions?" How long? How much time can be saved by borrowing or plagiarizing other similar software? I need you to answer from a professional perspective."

"In terms of function realization, a month of independent development by a computer professional programmer is enough. The software VisiCalc only took me two months to develop independently. Generally speaking, it is not a complex functional software and does not require connection. , no additional expansion is needed, yes, one month is enough. As for the second question, I think... you should know the answer, Mr. Lawyer, it took Lotus1-2-3 two months to quietly complete the reference to VisiCalc .”

Jon Meyer immediately turned to look at the judge: "Your honor, I think the expert witness's testimony is not fair enough. I request..."

"Your Honor, the expert witness's testimony simply stated the facts, and the other party's lawyer's question was deliberately misleading. The second question has obviously deviated from professionalism." Delia Keys stood up immediately and defended the judge at the same time.

The judge just nodded with a numb expression: "I agree with the defendant's lawyer. Plaintiff's lawyer, you only need to ask questions to confirm the witness's professionalism."

"I think the defendant has another purpose in inviting Mr. Dan Bricklin to serve as a professional witness, because Mr. Dan Bricklin's soft arts company has some disputes with Lotus. In this case, Mr. Dan Bricklin It is simply impossible to give a professional and impartial opinion to the court." Jon Meyer turned around, looked at Dan Bricklin, and insisted.

Dan Bricklin lowered his head and looked at his hands, then looked at Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sachs on the plaintiff's bench, and finally spoke gently to the presiding judge:

"Before the spreadsheet software I developed was installed on the Apple II, that computer sold 35,000 units that year. The next year, the same computer as VisiCala was installed and sold 220,000 units. I created the spreadsheet This category of software, the world's first spreadsheet software, I'm sure I'm here out of professional rather than personal vendetta, your honor."

"Plaintiff's attorney, do you have any professional doubts about Mr. Dan Bricklin?" The judge nodded and asked Jon Meyer.

At this time, Mitch Kapoor on the plaintiff's bench whispered to the lawyer beside him. Soon Jon Meyer received the message from his employer and spread his hands: "I have no other questions, your honor."

"Mr. Dan Bricklin, from a professional perspective, what do you think of the OSS software and Lotus 1-2-3 software in this case?" The judge made a gesture to Dan Bricklin to invite him to speak.

Dan Bricklin looked at the plaintiff's dock and the defendant's dock with complicated eyes, and finally withdrew his gaze, looked at the judge, and spoke frankly:

"From a professional perspective, the software industry cannot be like traditional industries. Every company has built patent barriers and trapped itself into an island. If the software industry needs to develop, it needs an open ecological environment. Frankly speaking, , in terms of patents and copyrights, the software industry should not exist. Only IBM, Xerox, Texas Instruments and other companies that have been established for decades or hundreds of years exist, because they have built the bottom layer of the computer industry. Today, most companies It's just a matter of continuing to climb on the shoulders of giants. I'm not saying that the software industry does not need patent protection. I just don't want the software industry to see patent abuse in other industries. The similarity of software interfaces is accused of infringement. This is completely incomprehensible to me. Software interfaces should not be proprietary. Users are accustomed to tables at the top of the screen and function menus at the bottom of the screen, or tables on the left and menus on the right. Is there any technical content in this? No, the interface can be completely different by just adjusting the code. Why not adjust it? , it is just a convention and does not require users to get used to it. All this is just for the convenience of software users." Dan Bricklin said:

"It's like there are so many TV channels in the United States. When viewers turn on the TV to watch different news programs, they will find that the news program host is sitting on the left and the small screen appears on the right. So why doesn't NBC sue ABC for plagiarizing their news programs? Because they all know that this kind of seating adjustment doesn't make any sense for a news program, your honor."

The judge looked at the documents in front of him and asked: "The court received a piece of OSS software sent by Actor Company to Lotus Company. We found some identical codes in the software. Will the same codes appear in similar software?" ?”

"No, if there is no special reason, two different software will not have the same code, because the code is written independently by the developer, and it will not be the same under normal circumstances. Even if it is plagiarized, it will not plagiarize the code, it will only copy the same type of code. Software functions, for example, software A has a very convenient function of cell annotation, but similar software B does not, then software company B can buy a copy of software A, experience this function, and then write its own code to implement the same function on software B. Function, that is to say, it seems that two functions are exactly the same, and the method of their implementation is also the same. They may use the same programming language and compiler, but the writing process is completely different. As long as the court consults the development log and source code, it can be determined It’s clear.” Dan Bricklin said with certainty.

The judge continued: "As a professional, Mr. Bricklin, under what circumstances do you think two pieces of software would have the same code?"

"Code plagiarism, this is the most common, is to obtain the source code of a certain software through some means and change it. The code inside will be the same, and the proportion will be very high, basically more than 50%. The second is to pay tribute and add some tributes Code easter eggs are just like some settings in the game. They are only discovered under certain circumstances. In this case, there may be one or several small pieces of code, and deletion has no impact on the software. Their existence is mainly for development. The author wants to express some emotions in a subtle way.”

"Thank you for your opinion, Mr. Bricklin." The judge looked at the lawyers on both sides: "Do the lawyers on both sides have any questions for this expert witness?"

Delia Keys was the first to express her refusal. These expert witnesses were originally brought by them to help Lotus. As long as the judge asked valid questions, there was no need to waste time asking similar questions again. Only the judge did not ask them. Delia would only ask questions that she felt would be beneficial to the Actor Company and make it easier for expert witnesses to speak and increase their persuasiveness.

Jon Meyer seemed to want to stand up to speak, but Mitch Kapoor stopped him. In the end, Jon Meyer also declined after confirming again, but he seemed a little dissatisfied with Mitch Kapoor stopping him. , want to understand the employer’s intentions.

Witnesses from both sides took turns appearing in this environment.

This kind of trial is to throw out all the witness evidence collected by one's side, because after today, these witness evidence will be useless.

Both parties, including the parties, need to sit in the witness box and speak. For example, Holly Keener, who appeared on the stage at this time, sat in the witness box and accepted the cross-examination by the other party's lawyer.

"Ms. Keener, have you ever used Lotus software before you founded Actor?" Jon Meyer said in a gentle tone, giving the impression that he didn't feel like a lawyer at all, but more like a kind teacher.

Holly nodded: "Of course, I used to work part-time at the Entrepreneurship Center of the School of Engineering at Stanford University and needed to process various spreadsheets. I often used Lotus software."

"Very good. When you see that the operation of OSS software is similar to that of Lotus software, and the interface is similar, don't you have a question, why is OSS software so similar to the Lotus software you have used before?" Jon Meyer said to Holly smiled and continued to ask.

Holly looked directly at Jon Meyer and gave a direct negative answer: "Why should you question it? They are not similar at all."

"During your time at Actor, did you never worry about software similarity causing trouble?" Jon Meyer nodded slightly.

Holly affirmed: "Never, because we are doing the right thing."

Jon Meyer showed a successful smile on his face and asked again: "Are you sure? Miss Keener?"

"Sure," Holly said.

Jon Meyer turned his head and looked at the judge: "Your honor, I think Miss Holly Keener's testimony is not worthy of belief. She is lying. She once questioned the legality of the OSS software. For this, we have to get the court A licensed investigator can submit the call transcript to prove that what she said at this moment was never in question a lie, and based on this issue, I would like to call on our character witnesses to raise questions about Miss Holly Keener's character."

The character witness means that Lotus Company has evidence to doubt that Holly Keener's speech is not worthy of belief, because she is not a simple witness, but also plays an important role in one of the parties. Therefore, the character witness will be invited to appear in court to explain to the court why the other party's speech was chosen. Sexual listening.

"Permitted." The judge flipped through the text version of the call record and gave the answer.

Jon Meyer introduced the character witness who appeared on the stage: "This is Ms. Lena Frey, Miss Holly Keener's cousin."

"Protest, your honor, I feel that the other party's character witness is not a reference. Miss Holly Keener and Ms. Lena Frey have not seen each other since graduating from high school. There is absolutely no way to explain what happened to her during college. To give character testimony about the matter." Delia Keys immediately stood up and protested that the other party's selection of character witnesses was not reference-based.

Jon Meyer also spoke quickly: "Your Honor, Ms. Lena Frey is a relative of Miss Holly Keener. She grew up with her. I think the testimony narrated by such a relative is more credible."

"The protest is invalid. The character witness is allowed to speak." The judge glanced at Delia Keys and rejected the other party's protest.

The moment Holly Keener saw her cousin standing opposite, the image of Tommy Hawke flashed in her mind, and his words rang in her ears:

"You have been shaken before, so the other party will definitely bring up the past that you least want to look back on, attack you violently, crush your armor, tear apart your defenses, make you collapse, lose your temper, and then be caught in the loopholes , Knock you to the ground! Holly Keener, you have to convince yourself that you raped your cousin's boyfriend because you were charming enough. You need to bite her in public in court to make her understand. One reason! That is, you can not only steal her man! You can also say that she is ugly* in public in court! No one wants to be *ugly*! This is why I can’t help but* you while teaching you now! You are the head Beautiful she-wolf!”

The judge asked the character witness, Holly's cousin: "Ms. Frey, how long have you known Miss Holly Keener?"

"From birth to now, we only stopped seeing each other after graduating from high school." Lena Frey said.

"How well do you know Miss Holly Keener?"

"I'm her cousin. We grew up together. I know everything about her."

"The plaintiff's lawyer said that you are willing to testify about Miss Holly Keener's character. How do you evaluate Miss Holly Keener's character?"

"She is a woman who lies a lot. She pretends to be a good sister in the crowd, but will actually steal your things behind your back. When she is discovered, she puts on an innocent expression. She has many Mask, she has a lot of character, your honor, nothing she says is worth believing..."

"Your Honor, Miss Holly Keener requests to speak." Delia Keys waited for the other party to finish speaking, then stood up and said.

The judge nodded: "Permitted."

Holly looked at her cousin as if looking at a stranger, and said lightly:

"Your Honor, if the loser of a love triangle in high school can appear here openly and testify about my character, then can I say that this character witness is not qualified to testify because she must have never said that she was domineering? I can fill a diary with what happened to me, but this is not the focus of this trial. I hope the other party can provide evidence on my character. I am an adult and no longer the little girl in high school. I hope the person dealing with me is It would be better for me to have people in the industry come to vouch for my character, instead of working so hard to find a woman who was dumped by her boyfriend because she was too ugly, but who dared not blame her boyfriend but only her clueless cousin. I want to believe that the other party really couldn’t find any other character witnesses to question me, so they could only find Ms. Reina Frey, but I don’t think she is qualified to prove my character because..."

Holly paused and continued:

"She has a record of smoking marijuana. If the court allows an extension, I can find alumni and teachers from that year to testify for my words. This is the Supreme Court. I don't think a lady who smokes marijuana and has nothing to do after graduating from high school, I can accuse a Stanford college student with no stain and excellent academic performance. If she appears here, I will not think that she has received a bribe. I believe it is out of jealousy. Lena Frei has lived in my life because of mediocrity since she was a child. In the shadow, this caused her psychological problems. She said many times before that she was envious or jealous of me, and I could find witnesses. I also asked the court to arrange for a psychologist to diagnose and treat her. Because of her ugly appearance, she had inner self-consciousness. …”

"*Your* son-in-law!" Lena Frey was irritated by Holly's light but vicious words. She no longer paid attention to Jon Meyer's previous instructions, stood up from her seat and faced Holly Keener. He yelled: "You fucking stole my man! I..."

"Bailiff!" The judge said immediately.

The bailiff immediately stepped forward to control Lena Frey, Jon Meyer lowered his head in depression, and Delia Keys immediately said to the judge: "Your Honor, I think the other party's character witness has lost his temper. No. Fit to continue testifying.”

"I agree, clerk, to delete Ms. Reina Frey's speech from the record. Her speech has no reference value due to emotional issues," the judge said.

Jon Meyer sighed.

…

After Jason White sat firmly, Jon Meyer asked: "Mr. Jason White, there are a lot of consumption records about you here, most of which are consumption by entertainment companies. Can you explain it?"

"I don't have a girlfriend, and Stanford is very stressful. I'm an adult, so what's the problem? I don't quite understand why I have to explain such a personal issue." Jason looked at the other person with a confused look on his face.

Jon Meyer shrugged: "Of course there is no problem, but these consumptions make me doubt that Actor was founded for public welfare and to respect women. Your consumption records show that you are not as described in speeches at universities everywhere. That respects women.”

"I have to understand women deeply in order to respect them better." Jason blurted out without even thinking.

This answer stunned Jon Meyer, the judge, and even most of the people at the scene. If this sentence is not given a complete explanation, it will easily leave a negative image in the mind of the judge.

Jon Meyer also didn't expect Jason White to give such a good entry point: "Very good, then please describe in court your deep understanding of women."

Jason White took a deep breath. During this time, he was running around from various universities and delivering various speeches. His acting skills had improved a lot. At this time, he said with a somewhat sad expression:

"Your Honor, I have evidence and witnesses to prove that the money I spent did not come from Actor Company, but from the film company. In addition to being the founder of Actor Company, I am also an actor registered with the California Small Screen Actors Guild. That's right. , I have made some movies that are not suitable for children, and I rely on making money from movies to support the development of Actor Company. It was a very difficult time for Actor Company, and everything was just getting started, and I received a letter from Lotus Company’s lawyer. Tommy and Holly both looked sad. Because they were worried that Lotus, a big company in the industry, would destroy the newly born Actor company like an elephant crushing an ant, so I stood up. Yes, I registered as an actor. I wanted to make money by making movies and help the company. Save some legal fees..."

The audience exclaimed for the first time. Both men and women in the spectator seats looked at Jason White like a monster. Oh my God, you earn your legal fees by making small movies?

I'm afraid he may not be able to save enough money to pay for a game even if he swings that club until it is scrapped. How confident is this guy in his physical fitness?

In the shocked eyes of the audience, Jason said emotionally: "Later, Tommy learned the news that I wanted to hide. He was my roommate and saw that my reaction was not normal. I was very exhausted during that time. , had no interest in work or the opposite sex. Tommy was very moved, but also scolded me, saying that I could not destroy myself for public welfare. In the end, he decided to give up all OSS software for free in order to save legal fees. The plan that was launched was changed to charge for the first 100,000 sets, which was used to earn legal fees, and I also received the remuneration later. I wanted to invest these remuneration into the company, but Tommy asked me to treat my frigidity. I consulted Doctors, the treatment plan they gave was to find some attractive entertainment company girls to help me recover in all aspects, which is why I have so many consumption records."

Not only the lawyers opposite, but also the five judges on the stage were dumbfounded. Two of them even subconsciously looked at the other members of the Stanford Lawyer Team next to Delia, with eyes that seemed to read, "Your school is committed to the all-round development of students." It’s a field that really makes people sit up and take notice.”

Several Stanford Law School bosses lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Plaintiff's lawyer, Mr. Jason White has already answered your question. Do you have anything else you want to ask?" The judge came back to his senses and reminded the plaintiff's lawyer thoughtfully.

Jon Meyer shook his head repeatedly: "No, your honor, but I doubt the authenticity of the other party's answer."

"I submitted the film tape I participated in to the court, and you can watch it without leaking it." Jason White added dissatisfiedly when he heard that the old guy didn't believe his touching speech.

Jon Meyer looked at Jason speechlessly: "Thank you. After listening to your best words, I chose to believe your words, Mr. White."

Although Tommy Hawke did not come today, the two parties present, although young, are no longer ordinary college students.

A person who doesn't care about being exposed, but deliberately uses tricky words to irritate character witnesses.

The other one is even more exaggerated. He is shameless and calls the call to action therapy. He even says that if you don’t believe it, just watch the short movie I made...

Putting aside my age, whether I can withstand watching such an intense short movie, if I finish watching it and a leak occurs one day, and the other party holds the court responsible, I, as a person who has watched it, will inevitably be involved. The court is responsible for confirming the authenticity of the video tape, and I have no interest in watching that kind of video.

Later, Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sacks obviously also received careful guidance from their lawyers. When they spoke as witnesses, they were flawless and did not allow the defendant Delia Keys to find any loopholes that could be used to fight back.

Delia sighed. The witness evidence from both sides has almost been presented. According to this situation, the final debate stage will soon be entered, followed by the ruling and verdict.

"Keep an eye on Jim Manz."

Seeing Jim Manzi appear on stage wearing a baseball cap, Delia suddenly remembered Tommy's words. It was a sentence he mentioned when discussing the trial with her. Tommy suggested that Delia ask Jim Manzi a few questions. Question, if there is a chance to add points to the judge, the chance should also be on Jim Manz. That guy has endured being a nerd for so long, and he must want to add a piece of firewood with his own hands.

"Mr. Jim Manz, is the reason for your resignation related to this lawsuit?" Delia asked.

"No, I personally like more challenging work. Lotus is developing smoothly, but I can't muster the fighting spirit, so I choose to resign."

"You had formal contact with Actor Company before and proposed to settle and acquire Lotus Company. Why did this plan fail?"

“During internal discussions within the company, it seemed that Actor’s technical level was not worth acquiring, so the plan was abandoned.”

"Is it your assessment of Actor's technical level, or someone else's?"

"Mitch and Jonathan, I don't understand technology. They are technical geniuses. Of course it is up to them to decide this kind of thing."

"I have here a software update plan log provided by an anonymous person at Lotus. It shows that after receiving the OSS software, Lotus suddenly requested the implementation of certain functions of the OSS software during the development process of Lotus1-2-3. Previously, When I asked Mr. Mitch Kapoor and Mr. Jonathan Sachs, they both stated that this was a decision made when you were in office. They immediately canceled the development of those functions after they found out, but the log stated that the function code was almost copied from OSS. .”

"Me?" Jim Mantz looked at Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sacks in shock.

The two of them looked at him with smiles on their faces, which made Jim couldn't help but swear in his heart. These two idiots really thought that they had no dissatisfaction in their hearts because they had broken up peacefully with Lotus Company?

It was indeed him who urged it, but he was not ready to admit it at this time.

Jim Manz said to Delia: "I don't understand technology, whether to join or cancel...I don't understand software. I am only responsible for selling software. If there are any development problems with the software, I don't know much about it."

These sudden words made Mickey and Jonathan, who had just smiled and greeted Jim Manz, widen their eyes. They didn't understand why this guy suddenly lied in front of the court!

Delia's eyes lit up and she immediately said to the judge: "Your Honor, the witness's words seem to indicate that the two heads of Lotus, Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sacks, plagiarized the OSS code. It is not as they said. Mr. Jim Mantz was in charge, which makes me question the veracity of previous statements made by Mr. Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sachs."

"Your Honor, I suspect that our witness is testifying in bad faith. I request that his identity as a witness be suspended to determine whether he has an interest relationship with Actor Company." Jon Meyer also spoke immediately.

The judge looked at Jon Meyer with confusion: "But Mr. Jim Manz is a witness invited by the plaintiff to testify about certain contact details in this case, and the information submitted shows that he has no connection with Actor Company. I don't think so. He testified in bad faith, and the court currently does not feel that Mr. Jim Manz is full of malicious intent towards Lotus. He only stated the facts and proposed dismissal. Mr. Jim Manz, please continue to speak."

"All employees at Lotus can prove that I don't get involved in technical work. How can I have opinions on technical issues in front of two technical geniuses." Jim Manz said with magnanimous eyes.

"That's what you asked me to add!" Seeing Jim's expression, Jonathan couldn't help shouting: "You went to my office specifically to urge me to add those features! Let's speed up the launch to the market!"

"Quiet, plaintiff." The judge reminded him.

Delia continued at this time: "If Mr. Jonathan Sacks insists that the technical work of the software development process is led by Mr. Jim Manz, then Mr. Jim Manz has no involvement in the assessment of Actor's technical level. That is Lies, and he insists on acquiring Actor. If he had influence in the company, the settlement would have been reached long ago. I think it can only prove that Mr. Jim Manz and Mr. Jonathan Sacks are lying. I prefer Mr. Jonathan Sacks. lie."

"Jim! Why did you lie? You were bribed!" Jonathan still couldn't help shouting to Jim.

He didn't understand why Jim Manz lied. He and Mitch didn't owe him salary or set restrictions for him. It was just because he always insisted on acquiring Actor and the two parties had different ideas. Why did he find this scene at this moment!

Jim calmly said to the judge: "I didn't lie, and I wasn't bribed. Your honor, I'm in charge of commercial work at Lotus, and I have absolutely no involvement in technical work such as development and updates. The decision-making power is in the hands of Mitch and Jonathan. I I once suggested acquiring Lotus because Mitch and Jonathan praised OSS for its many convenient features. I thought acquiring this small company would make Lotus stronger. However, Mitch and Jonathan rejected my proposal because they felt that Actor It’s not worth acquiring, they can do those features without acquiring, that’s all I know.”

"You're lying!" Even Mickey couldn't help it and said, "You once suggested suing Actor Company. Jonathan and I were the ones who proposed the acquisition!"

Jim didn't even look at Mitch, but just said to the judge: "I have no relationship or conflict with either company now. I don't need to lie. Your honor, this is the truth. Everything I said happened. I am willing to take responsibility for every word I say.”

Seeing Jonathan and Mickey roaring excitedly in the court, Jim laughed heartily in his heart.

Two idiots, I worked hard to protect Lotus, and then you didn’t have any trust in me. Now you know how I, a bastard, treat strangers. You don’t need to give me benefits, and I am willing to add insult to injury for free. thing.

Tommy Hawke, this bastard, arranged for the lawyer to ask several questions that were really accurate. He seemed to know what he wanted to say and put the questions in a comfortable angle early on.

Obviously I was helping that bastard, but I still felt happy to say thank you.

After Delia saw Jonathan's gaffe, a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. Tommy's eyes were really very accurate. Even she didn't expect that Jim Manz actually slapped him hard in the court. A slap in the face to the two founders of Lotus.

Of course, it is not without cost. When Jim Manzi looks for a job in the future, his employers will worry about this happening to him, so it will be much more difficult for him to find a job than before.

Most people would be concerned about this issue and generally would not do this kind of behavior towards their former employer, but Tommy concluded that Jim Manz had been angry for so long and would rather risk finding a job than give two Learn a lesson from this idiot.

Now it seems that Tommy was right again.

Moreover, this lawsuit merged Actor's counterclaim against Lotus for plagiarism, and Jim Manz's speech had a greater impact on the merged counterclaim.

The presiding judge, Hart Bronx, banged his gavel for the first time in the trial, signaling the plaintiff to be silent. Jon Meyer sighed with an ugly face. Under normal circumstances, the entire audience should not allow the judge to be silent. The sound of the gavel prompts silence, and which party gets the gavel will be recorded. It will become a point of contention when several judges discuss the final decision. At this time, the performance of Lotus founder Jonathan has obviously made the plaintiff's impression decline.

"Does the plaintiff have any witnesses or evidence to provide?" Jon Meyer shook his head.

"Does the defense have any witnesses or evidence to provide?" Delia Keys also shook her head.

The judge said: "This case has entered the final statement. In the following time, the lawyers of both parties can directly explain to the court their understanding of the legal principles of this case from all aspects and give the final conclusion. Plaintiff."

Jon Meyer sorted out the documents in his hands, stood up, and said in a loud voice:

"Your honor, computer software is an independent whole and should have complete patent protection rights. In this case, the OSS software developed by Actor Company has affected the software Lotus1-2-3 owned by Lotus Company in terms of operating interface and code. Plagiarism is an extremely serious form of corporate theft. Both the patent law and the copyright law clearly indicate the protection of patents and copyrights. The defendant Actor Company cannot cover up their actual infringement behavior by using public welfare as an excuse. The defendant claims Identical software parts do not constitute an important part of the software as a whole, and should not be a reason for the court to refer to it. We always believe that Lotus1-2-3, as a whole, is entitled to complete copyright protection. When making a judgment, it should be assumed that the copyright is complete and It is not a subdivision. Therefore, we request the court to rule on the fact that the other party has infringed and compensate Lotus for a series of losses caused by the infringement."

Delia also received the prepared statement materials from the team lawyer:

"Your Honor, the U.S. copyright law is characterized by the idea-expression dichotomy. Copyright law only protects original expression, not creativity. When courts decide relevant cases, the commonly used abstraction-filtering-comparison method should be adopted. First, determine the content of the software. What is protected and what is not protected, but so far, our country’s laws have not broken down the legal provisions and relevant standards based on the emerging thing of computer software to provide guidance for relevant industry practitioners. The same is true for patents. Patent protection cannot cover software based on computer software. We believe that Lotus1-2-3 of Lotus Company is a unique and original expression and should be protected by law. However, the OSS developed based on the same idea does not infringe, but only The two companies are in the same creative stage, and functional similarity does not mean plagiarism. Moreover, the other party has repeatedly stated that the operation interface is plagiarism. There is no relevant legal restriction at all. If the operation interface is similar, the entire software is deemed to be plagiarism. I think this is the unique characteristic of Lotus as a company in the industry. The evidence we submitted also stated that influential companies have bullied small company actors. More than 20 small studios have stated that their own software developed by Lotus has received legal letters from Lotus because of similar functions. Warning, the other party’s behavior is not only against Actor, but against all similar product companies. I think this copyright protection method is too dangerous. It means that Lotus can monopolize the entire similar software and related functions. Based on the above discussion, I request the court It was judged that Actor did not infringe the rights and held Lotus responsible for the related losses caused by a series of targeted actions."

After the lawyers from both sides made their final statements neatly, the judge adjourned the hearing, and the five judges stood up and left the courtroom one by one.

Next they go to another meeting room to discuss the vote and give the final verdict.

Holly looked at Jason excitedly: "We will definitely win, right?"

"Of course, I even made a fucking small movie. Now maybe the whole world knows that I am a small movie actor. The sacrifice is so big, and then we lost the lawsuit. Except for hanging Tommy, everything I can't think of another way to comfort myself." Jason said as he looked at the empty podium.

Although Delia Keyes and the lawyers at Stanford Law School were resting with calm faces, chatting quietly, and sorting out documents, they were still a little bit excited.

Although Tommy had made a lot of noise before, the final decision-making power was only the nine justices of the Supreme Court. If a few of them suddenly got hot, they would rather be accused of resigning than insist on defending Lotus's rights...

After all, justices are tenured for life. If you don't resign on your own initiative, you can always sit in that chair. Even the president has nothing to do. People can scold legislators until they resign, but it may be very difficult for justices to resign after scolding them.

Jurisprudence is already beckoning to them. This case will define a series of legal issues involving copyright and patents for the computer software industry, and determine whether many subdivided items of computer software are protected by copyright. When subsequent relevant bills are drafted and legislated, and there are similar cases, they will The writings and speeches of these people will continue to be quoted in court, and even myself and my companions at the moment may have countless computer software companies come to discuss cooperation tomorrow, because as long as this case is won, they will be the laws of this industry. authority.

After nearly three hours of adjournment, the presiding judge Hart Bronx slowly sat back on the court rostrum, holding a piece of light paper in his hand. When he saw the other party appearing, the hall was silent for a moment, and all eyes were on him. The ruling in the other party's hand determines the fate of the two companies.

"The final concurring opinion in this case was written by Justice David Souter. Nine justices, including the chief justice, voted. Six judges agreed with the final opinion, and three judges disagreed with the court's decision." The judge's voice was slow. Said slowly.

At the same time, there were several chaotic footsteps outside. It sounded suddenly and then gradually weakened. It sounded like a few people running away quickly. This made everyone in the hall even more itchy and unbearable. They were worried that if they knew the result, they might be worse than outside. The audience will be a few minutes slower.

The Supreme Court stipulates that the trial does not have any equipment to record images and sounds. Once the verdict is given, in addition to the judge announcing it to both parties, it will also be communicated to the media at the same time. In a landmark trial like this, from the opening to the final decision, All written records of the ruling were printed out without reservation and handed over to the interns of the Supreme Court. The interns sprinted along the 400-meter-long corridor and handed them to the reporters of the news media outside who were responsible for them, and informed them immediately. Supporters from both sides outside the court finally ruled on the situation.

“The Supreme Court held that ideas that form the basis of any basic element of a computer program are not copyrightable, including ideas that form the basis of its interface…”

Before the first sentence was finished, the audience burst into warm applause. Delia was already excitedly high-fiving her team members in celebration. Jon Meyer, Byron Kennedy and others seemed to have expected the outcome, and just lowered their heads to start. Clear the papers on your desk.

Only Mitch Caple and Jonathan Sachs stared blankly at the justice who was still speaking slowly. They couldn't believe everything the other party said at this moment. It was obvious that the other party had plagiarized their own software, but they didn't get any response. Any punishment?

“After reviewing the professional opinions of many amicus curiae, the Supreme Court is convinced that if one-sided use of traditional copyright law and patent law to protect computer programs is tantamount to monopoly thinking, it is not conducive to the technological progress and industrial development of the software industry. We believe that Lotus The operation interface and menu command hierarchy are an operation method that is not protected by copyright. It is the way for users to control and operate the software. Users must use various functions to inform the computer of their needs, so the menu command hierarchy is consistent with The operation interface should not be protected by traditional and general copyright patents."

"Compared to other industries, the computer software industry emphasizes interoperability. If traditional patent and copyright laws are followed, it will easily lead to an incompatible software ecological environment, which will have a great negative impact on the development of the U.S. software industry. It will also be easy to find There are more cases of copyright abuse and patent abuse. Therefore, the Supreme Court decided to join Congress to discuss the subdivision of patent law and copyright law based on the computer software industry, and use this case as a basis to formulate relevant provisions more clearly."

"I declare that the infringement case filed by Lotus Company against Actor Company has been rejected. Actor Company has not committed commercial profit-making infringement under the existing US legal provisions, and the plaintiff's lawsuit based on Section 506 is not established."

"In Actor's counterclaim against Lotus for plagiarism, based on the statement of the plaintiff's witness Jim Mantz and the Lotus software development log provided by Actor, Lotus did not publicly sell software with the same code as Actor's, and did not The company was affected, but because Lotus did not release the software source code and subsequent development logs to the court in this case, the Supreme Court, in accordance with Article 51 of the Rules of Procedure, gave Lotus the option to submit to the court within 90 days before the updated version was launched. Professional evaluation groups including Actor Company submit source code and development logs for the court and Actor Company to determine that there is no reason for plagiarism so that the lawsuit can be withdrawn. They can also apply for a motion to remain silent until the next official commercial update of Lotus Company software, which will be decided by Actor Company itself. Collect relevant investigation evidence to determine whether the plagiarized function is used for commercial purposes. During this period, Lotus will not be affected by any judgment."

“The Supreme Court believes that future relevant laws and standards for the software industry should allow software developers to develop competing products of copyright-protected software without infringing copyright. This will be more conducive to the development of the industry. This is the end of this court hearing. It’s over, exit.”

Amid thunderous applause, the justice stood up and left. Afterwards, in the gallery were lawyers representing various companies in the computer industry, lawyers representing 176 non-profit organizations, and even Delia Case, Holly Keener and Jason White all looked at the people at Lotus who were lowering their heads and packing up documents and preparing to leave.

There was undisguised greed in his eyes.

The Lotus company came to an end at this moment.

Software updates follow Moore's Law, and a version update is required at least once a year to maintain vitality. Although Actor's counterclaim has no definite result, Lotus's eggs have been tightly grabbed by Actor. Do you want to update? First hand over the source code to Actor to help you check it. If you find a mistake, you will not be able to expect the software to be launched on time. And if Lotus dares to go public directly, it will give Actro the opportunity to collect relevant investigation evidence. The court heard in the court at this moment Friends, by then all will become victims of plagiarism and continue to bite. At the same time, other software competes for the market it lost due to delayed updates. Even if it is proven innocent one day, it may only be able to survive. , enjoy the feeling of being trapped on an island under perfect standards and laws.

Benjamin Rosen, the executive director of EFF and the chairman of Compaq Computer, stood up, straightened his suit and walked out. It happened that Seymour Rubinstein, CEO of MicroPort, also stood up and walked out. When he saw the other person, Benjamin He asked with a smile:

"Is there anything you want to say? Seymour? Do you want to sue Actor Company for plagiarism?"

"A new era of order is coming, but Lotus, which had the opportunity to formulate order, will always stay in the past. I did not expect that Lotus would be so stupid, abandoning so much of the implicit power of the industry, and digging its own grave. ." The bearded Rubinstein said as he walked:

"The Bible tells us that if people offend each other, God will punish them. If people offend Jehovah, who will pray for them?"

I have finally finished holding back this trial, and I will never write about foreign subjects again. It’s really painful to look up information without knowing English. It’s 13,000 words, so I’ll just read it~ The updates have been delayed these days, mainly because of the search for professional knowledge. It’s a waste of time. In fact, this case is a reference to three or four real American software industry cases from 1985 to 1991. The emergence of the protagonist made the software industry start to pay attention to order and the speed of ecological construction, which was slightly more than a year ahead of schedule...

I have been finishing up this volume in the past two days. I am so tired that I have to open a new volume. I will not touch anything too professional. My body cannot support it, and most of the time is wasted looking at the computer and flipping through the materials.

Finally, I would like to recommend this book: Everyone: Survival of the Genetic System, Starting from the Day of Elimination