American Entertainment 1982

The Washington Supreme Court building, the scene of the trial.

In the adjudication court, far from being as tense as expected by the outside media and the public waiting for news, at this moment, the representatives of the friends of the court in the spectator seats looked at the judges on the rostrum with expressionless faces like a statue carved in stone.

The lawyers who are often seen on TV are drooling and impassioned, and the judges are constantly waving their gavels to signal silence, etc., and they are completely invisible in the Supreme Court.

The lawyer teams of both sides are very rational, and their emotions are always calm. They often don’t even wait for the judge to speak, but as soon as they make a gesture, the lawyers of both sides understand the judge’s intention, or immediately stop cross-examining the witness, or adjust the question according to the judge’s request, and ask and more closely related issues in this case.

Because this is the highest court, if you express dissatisfaction with the judge on the stage a little bit, or if you react slowly, you will easily be considered by the other party to be in contempt of the court, and being kicked out is the lightest punishment. If you really make the other party unhappy, you may even be punished by the Bar Association.

As for why the behavior in court is 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 judge on stage.

Lawyers and judges in the American judiciary have always been switching between these two professions, and there is no clear dividing line.

The Supreme Court has no jury like the other two courts, there are five justices on the podium, one presiding justice, four associate justices, and it is clear to all that when the trial is over, there is no jury to vote To decide the outcome, the nine judges of the Supreme Court give the final decision by voting in a meeting of judges.

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

"I mean, after nearly a year, Actor Company has finally come to the third court trial. The judge's verdicts are all based on voting. The jury was the first two times, and the judge this time. If so, we have to What does the law do? Why not just let the plaintiff and the defendant play fist-guessing under the watchful eyes of everyone, win the case, lose the case, and win two out of three games, which represents the three-level court system in the United States.”

Holly glanced at the rostrum to make sure the judge didn't notice Jason: "Shut up, Jason, brew your emotions, if you mess up, you know Tommy's tricks, he will definitely make you pay a terrible price .”

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

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

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

Before speaking, the expert witnesses of both parties often need to accept review questions from the other party’s lawyer to determine whether the other party is professional. If the expert witness’s answer is picked up by the lawyer, the expert witness may not even have the opportunity to speak formally. Please leave the court directly on the grounds that the professionalism is questioned, and the next one will come in.

Thirty-three-year-old Dan Bricklin sat on the witness stand, nodding to the judge to signal his readiness.

After the judge announced the start of the inquiry, Jon Meyer stood up from his lawyer's seat, walked to a distance of about five meters from Dan Bricklin, and stood there, staring down at Dan Bricklin's eyes, as if at any time Going forward to grab Dan Bricklin's neckline.

This made Dan Bricklin, a high-intelligence engineer who developed the spreadsheet software VisiCala and is recognized as the "father of spreadsheets" in the software industry, subconsciously shrink back.

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

The court stipulated that without the permission of the judge, the lawyers of both parties should not be within five meters of the witness, so as to avoid imposing pressure on the witness at close range, resulting in negligence in the testimony of the witness.

If Jon Meyer stepped within five meters and Delia Case stopped it, the court's impression of Lotus would be lowered; If you open your mouth, it will make the judge question his professionalism.

On the stage of the Supreme Court, lawyers must constantly look for weapons that can attack their opponents from any angle, such as subtle movements, vague words, and even the level of voice, etc., because the understanding of the law is not important here, and even everything that happens at this moment has already been changed. It doesn't matter, maybe the justices already have an answer that they tend to support, and they just wait for the end of the trial to complete the vote.

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

Jon Meyer stared at Dan Bricklin, and said word by word: "Mr. Witness, as the person in charge of a software company, do you think the development time of a software with spreadsheet functions and electronic document functions takes How long? How much time can be saved after borrowing or copying other similar software? I need you to answer from a professional perspective."

"From the perspective of function realization, it is enough for a computer professional programmer to develop independently for one month. The software VisiCalc was developed independently by me for two months. Generally speaking, it is not a complicated functional software and does not need to be connected. , no need for additional expansion, yes, one month is enough, as for the second question, I think... you should know the answer, Mr. Lawyer, Lotus1-2-3 quietly completed the reference to VisiCalc after two months .”

Jon Meyer immediately turned his head to look at the judge: "Your Honor, I don't think the testimony of the expert witness is fair enough. I request..."

"Your Honor, the testimony of the expert witness is simply stating the facts, and the question of the other party's lawyer is deliberately misleading. The second question is clearly out of professionalism." Delia Keith immediately got up and spoke to the judge in defense.

The judge just nodded numbly: "I agree with the defendant's lawyer, the plaintiff's lawyer, you only need to ask questions to confirm the professionalism of the witness."

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

Dan Bricklin looked down at his hands, then at Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sachs in the plaintiff's seat, and finally spoke softly 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 The category of software, the world's first spreadsheet software, I'm sure I'm here professionally and not personally, Your Honor."

"Attorney for the plaintiff, do you have any doubts about Mr. Dan Bricklin's professionalism?" The judge nodded and asked Jon Meyer.

At this moment, Mitch Kapoor, who was in the plaintiff's seat, whispered something to the lawyer beside him, and soon Jon Meyer received a message from his employer and spread his hands: "I have no other questions, Your Honor."

"Mr. Dan Bricklin, from a professional point of view, 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 asking for the floor.

Dan Bricklin looked at the plaintiff's seat and the defendant's seat with complicated eyes, and finally retracted his gaze, looked at the judge and said calmly:

"From a professional point of view, the software industry cannot be the same as the traditional industry. Every company builds up patent barriers, and every company traps itself into an isolated island. The software industry needs an open ecological environment for development. Frankly speaking , in terms of patents and copyrights, the software industry should not exist. Only IBM, Xerox, Texas Instruments, and several other companies that have been established for tens of hundreds of years exist because they have built the bottom layer of the computer industry. Today, most companies, It’s just continuing to climb on the shoulders of giants. I’m not saying that the software industry doesn’t need patent protection. I just don’t want the software industry to experience patent abuse in other industries. The similarity of the software interface is accused of infringement, which makes me completely unable to understand. The software interface should not be a patent. Users are accustomed to the table at the top of the screen and the function menu at the bottom of the screen, or the table on the left and the menu on the right. Does this have technical content? No, the interface can be completely different after just adjusting the code. Why not adjust it? , it’s just a convention, and users don’t need to get used to it, all this is just for the convenience of software users.” Dan Bricklin said:

"It seems that 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 presenter is sitting on the left and the small picture appears on the right. Then why doesn't NBC sue ABC for plagiarizing their news programs? Because they all know that this seating adjustment doesn't make any sense for a news program, Your Honor."

Looking at the documents in front of him, the judge asked: "The court received an OSS software sent by Actor to Lotus. In the software, we found some identical codes. 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 independently written 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 Software functions, for example, software A has a very convenient function of cell annotation, but software B of the same type does not, then software company B can buy a copy of software A, experience this function, and then write the code by itself to achieve the same function on software B Function, that is to say, it looks like two functions are exactly the same, and they are implemented in the same way. They may both 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 identified. Clearly." Dan Bricklin said with certainty.

The judge continued to ask: "As a professional, Mr. Bricklin, under what circumstances do you think two softwares will have the same code?"

"Code plagiarism, this is the most common, if you get 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%, followed by tribute, add some tribute Easter eggs, like some settings in the game, are only discovered under certain circumstances. In this case, there may be one or several small pieces of code, and the deletion has no effect on the software. Their existence mainly lies in the development The author wants to express some emotions implicitly."

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

Delia Case took the lead in expressing her refusal. These expert witnesses were originally hired 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. She would only ask questions that Delia felt would be beneficial to the Actor Company and make it easier for expert witnesses to speak more persuasively.

Jon Meyer seemed to want to get up to speak, but Mitch Kapoor stopped him. In the end, Jon Meyer declined after repeated confirmation, but he seemed a little dissatisfied with Mitch Kapoor stopping him , want to know the intention of the employer.

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 own side, because after today, these witness evidence will be useless.

Both parties, including the parties, need to sit on the witness stand to speak. For example, Holly Keener, who appeared on the stage at this time, sat on the witness stand to accept cross-examination by the opposing lawyer.

"Miss Keener, may I ask if you used Lotus software before founding Actor?" Jon Meyer said in a gentle tone, not feeling 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 Stanford University's School of Engineering, and I needed to deal with various spreadsheets. I often used Lotus software."

"Very well, when you see that the OSS software is similar to the Lotus software in operation and the interface is similar, you don't have any doubts, why is the OSS software so similar to the Lotus software you have used before?" Jon Meyer said Holly continued to ask with a smile.

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

"During your time at Actor, did you never worry about the troubles caused by similar software?" Jon Meyer nodded slightly.

Holly affirmed: "Never, because we're 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 don't think Miss Holly Keener's testimony is trustworthy. She is lying. She once questioned the legality of the OSS software. For this, we have to get the court to Permitted investigators can submit call transcripts confirming that what she said at this time has never been questioned as a lie, and based on this issue, I would like to call on our character witnesses to challenge the character of Miss Holly Keener."

A character witness means that Lotus has evidence to suspect that Holly Keener's speech is not trustworthy, because she is not a simple witness, but an important role on one side of the party, so a character witness will be invited to appear in court to explain to the court why the other party's speech should be chosen sex to hear.

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

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

"Protest, Your Honor, I don't think the other party's character witnesses are relevant. Miss Holly Keener and Ms. Lena Frey haven't seen each other since high school. testify about character.” Delia Keith immediately stood up, protesting that the selection of character witnesses by the other party was not referenced.

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

"The protest is invalid, and character witnesses are allowed to speak." The judge glanced at Delia Case and rejected the other party's protest.

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

"You have been shaken, so the other party will definitely dig out the past that you least want to look back, attack you violently, crush your armor, tear your heart defenses, make you collapse, lose your composure, and then be caught. , Knock you down! Holly Keener, you have to convince yourself that you fucked your cousin's boyfriend because you were charming enough that you need to bite her in court to make her understand One truth! That is, you can not only steal her man! You can also call her ugly* in public in court! No one wants to be *ugly*! That’s why I can’t help *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." Reina Frey said.

"What do you know about 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 on Miss Holly Keener's character. What do you think of Miss Holly Keener's character?"

"She is a liar, she acts like a good sister in the crowd, she will actually snatch your stuff behind your back, and when she is caught, she puts on an innocent face, she has a lot Mask, she has many personalities, Your Honor, nothing she says is trustworthy..."

"Your Honor, Miss Holly Keener has requested the floor." Delia Case waited for the other party to finish speaking, and immediately got up and said.

The judge nodded: "Allowed."

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 show up here to testify against my character problems, then can I say that this character witness is not qualified to testify, because she must have never said that she bullied me. I can fill a diary with my experience, but this is not the point of this trial. I hope that the other party can provide evidence for my character. I am an adult, and I am no longer the little girl in high school. I hope they deal with me People in the industry come to prove my character, instead of working hard to find a woman who was dumped by her boyfriend because she was too ugly, but dared not blame her boyfriend, only dared to blame my ignorant cousin. I would like 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 testify about my character because..."

Holly paused, then continued:

"She has a record of smoking marijuana. If the court allows an extension, I can go to my alumni and teachers to testify for my words. This is the highest court. I don't think a lady who smokes marijuana and has nothing to do after graduating from high school, I can accuse the unstained, academically excellent Stanford college student. I don’t think she has received bribes for her appearance here. In the shadows, this caused her psychological problems. She said that she was envious or jealous of me many times before, and I could find witnesses. I also asked the court to arrange a psychologist to treat her. ..."

"*Your* son!" Lena Frey was irritated by Holly's light but vicious words, and she no longer cared about Jon Meyer's previous advice, stood up from her seat and faced Holly Keener She yelled: "You fucking robbed me of my man! I..."

"Bailiff!" The judge spoke immediately.

The bailiff immediately stepped forward to control Reina Frey, Jon Meyer lowered his head depressedly, and Delia Case immediately said to the judge: "My lord, I think the other party's character witness is out of control. Fit to continue to testify."

"Agreed, clerk, delete Ms. Reina Frey's speech record. Her speech is not of any reference because of emotional problems." The judge said.

Jon Meyer sighed.

...

When Jason White sat down firmly, Jon Meyer asked: "Mr. Jason White, here are a lot of records about your consumption, most of which are consumption by entertainment companies, can you explain?"

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

Jon Meyer shrugged: "Of course it's okay, but these consumptions make me suspect that the Actor company was established for public welfare and respect for women. Your consumption records show that you are not as described in the speeches at universities around the world. Respect women like that."

"I have to get to know women better 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 present. If this sentence does not give a complete explanation, it is easy to leave a negative image in the mind of the judge.

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

Jason White took a deep breath. During this period of time, various universities ran around and gave various speeches. His acting skills have improved a lot. At this time, he said with a bit of a sad expression:

"Your Honor, I have evidence and witnesses to prove that the money I consume does not come from the Actor Company, but from the film company. I am not only the founder of the Actor Company, but also an actor of the California Small Film Actors Union, registered on the register, yes , I have made some movies that are not suitable for children, and I rely on making movies to make money to support the development of Actor Company. It was very difficult for Actor Company during that time. Everything has just started, and I received a letter from the lawyer of Lotus Company. Tommy and Holly looked sad My face is full, because they are worried that Lotus, a big company in the industry, will destroy the newly born Actor Company like an elephant trampling ants to death, so I stood up, yes, I went to register as an actor, and wanted to help the company to make money Saving up for a lawyer's fee..."

The audience exclaimed for the first time. Both men and women in the spectators looked at Jason White like a monster. God, do you save legal fees by making small movies?

I'm afraid he might not be able to save enough money for a round of swinging that cue until it is scrapped. How confident is this guy in his physical fitness?

Under the shocked eyes of the audience, Jason said emotionally: "Later, Tommy learned the news that I wanted to hide. He was my roommate, and he saw that my reaction was not normal. I was exhausted during that time." , I have no interest in work or the opposite sex. Tommy was very moved, but he also scolded me, saying that I can't destroy myself for public welfare. In the end, he decided to give up all the OSS software for free in order to save legal fees. The plan launched was changed to the first 100,000 sets of fees, which were used to earn legal fees, and I also received the salary later. I wanted to put the salary into the company, but Tommy asked me to treat my frigidity. I consulted Doctor, the treatment plan they gave is 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 on the opposite side, but even the five judges on the stage were stunned. Two of them even subconsciously looked at the other members of the Stanford Lawyers Group next to Delia, with a look in their eyes that said, "Your school is very important to the comprehensive development of students." A field that is really impressive” shock.

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

"Plaintiff's lawyer, Mr. Jason White has already answered your question. Do you have any other questions?" The judge came back to his senses and reminded the plaintiff's lawyer intimately.

Jon Meyer shook his head again and again: "No, Your Honor, but I doubt the authenticity of the other party's answer."

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

Jon Meyer looked at Jason speechlessly: "Thank you, after hearing your best words, I choose to believe your words, Mr. White."

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

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

The other one is even more exaggerated, directly shameless, saying that convocation can be treated, and even said that if you don't believe me, go to the little movie I made...

Let’s not talk about my age, watching that kind of intense small movie, whether I can hold on, if I really watch it, if there is a leak problem one day, the other party will pursue the responsibility of the court, and as a person who has watched it, I will inevitably be involved. The court is responsible for confirming the authenticity of the video tape, and I am not interested in watching that kind of video.

Afterwards, Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sachs obviously also received the careful guidance of the lawyers, and they were impeccable when they spoke as witnesses, and did not allow the defense's Delia Case to catch any loopholes to fight back.

Delia sighed. The witnesses and evidence from both sides have almost been presented. Judging from this situation, it will soon enter the final debate stage, followed by the verdict and judgment.

"Keep an eye on Jim Manzi."

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

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

"No, I personally like a more challenging job. Lotus is developing steadily. I can't raise my fighting spirit, so I choose to resign."

"You had formally contacted Actor before, and proposed to settle and acquire Lotus. Why did this plan fail?"

"During the internal discussion of the company, it felt that Actor's technical level did not seem to be worth acquiring, so this plan was abandoned."

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

"Mitch and Jonathan, I don't understand technology, they are technical geniuses, of course it's up to them to decide."

"Here I have a software update plan log provided by an anonymous person from Lotus Corporation. It shows that after Lotus Corporation received the OSS software, it suddenly requested to implement some functions of the OSS software during the development process of Lotus 1-2-3. Before When I asked Mr. Mitch Kapoor and Mr. Jonathan Sachs, they both stated that this was your decision when you were in office. They immediately canceled the development of those functions after they found out, but the log said that the function code is almost equal to copying from OSS .”

"Me?" Jim Manzi looked at Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sachs in shock.

The two looked at him with a smile on their faces, which made Jim couldn't help but curse in his heart. These two idiots really thought that they had no dissatisfaction in their hearts because they thought they had broken up with the Lotus company peacefully?

It is true that I urged him, but I am not ready to admit it at this time.

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

The sudden words made Mickey and Jonathan, who were still smiling at Jim Manzi just now, widen their eyes. They didn't understand why this guy suddenly lied in court!

Delia's eyes lit up, and she immediately said to the judge: "Your Honor, what the witness said seems to indicate that Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sacks, the two leaders of Lotus, had plagiarized the OSS code. Mr Jim Manz was in charge and it made me question the veracity of what Mr Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sachs said earlier."

"Your Honor, I suspect that our witness is testifying maliciously. I request that his witness status be suspended to determine whether he has any interest in Actor." Jon Meyer also spoke immediately.

The judge looked at Jon Meyer suspiciously: "But Mr. Jim Manz is a witness invited by the plaintiff to testify about certain contact details in this case, and the submitted information shows that he has no connection with Actor. I don't think He testified maliciously, and at present the court does not feel that Mr. Jim Manzi is full of malice towards Lotus, he just stated the facts and proposed to dismiss, Mr. Jim Manzi, please continue to speak."

"All the employees of Lotus can prove that I don't get involved in technical work. How could I have any opinion on technical issues in front of two technical geniuses." Jim Manzi said frankly.

"That's what you asked me to add!" Seeing Jim's expression, Jonathan couldn't help saying loudly: "You ran to my office on purpose and urged me to add those functions! Let's speed up the market!"

"Quiet, plaintiff." The judge reminded.

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 evaluation of Actor's technical level. Lies, and he insisted on buying Actor. If he had influence in the company, then the settlement would have been reached. I think, it can only prove that Mr. Jim Manzi and Mr. Jonathan Sachs are lying. I am leaning towards Mr. Jonathan Sachs lie."

"Jim! Why are you lying? You've been bought!" Jonathan still couldn't help shouting at Jim.

He didn't understand why Jim Manzi lied. He and Mickey didn't owe his salary, and didn't set restrictions for him. It was just because he insisted on buying Actor, and the two sides had different ideas. Why did he find this scene at this moment!

Jim said calmly to the judge: "I'm not lying, and I'm not being bribed, Your Honor, I'm in charge of business work in Lotus, and I can't interfere with technical work such as development and update. The decision is in the hands of Mitch and Jonathan. I once proposed to acquire Lotus, because Mitch and Jonathan praised the many convenient functions of the OSS software. I thought the acquisition of this small company would make Lotus stronger, but Mitch and Jonathan rejected my proposal. They felt that Actor Not worth the acquisition, those features they don't need to acquire, that's all I know."

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

Jim didn't even look at Mickey, and just said to the judge: "I have nothing to do with the two companies now, there is no conflict, I don't need to lie, Your Honor, this is the truth, everything I said is true, I am willing to take responsibility for every word."

Seeing Jonathan and Mitch roaring excitedly in court, Jim laughed heartily.

Two idiots, I worked so hard to protect Lotus, and then you didn’t have any trust in me, now you know how I treat strangers like a bastard, I don’t need to give me favors, I’m willing to do it for free thing.

Tommy Hawke, a jerk, arranged for the lawyer to ask a few questions that were really precise. He seemed to know what he wanted to say, and he threw out the angle of the question early and comfortably.

Obviously he was helping that bastard, but he still had the pleasure of saying thank you.

After Delia saw Jonathan's gaffe, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. Tommy's eyes are really very precise. A slap in the face of the two founders of Lotus.

Of course, it’s not without cost. If Jim Manz looks for a job in the future, the employer will worry that this kind of thing will happen to him, so it will be much more difficult for him to find a job than before.

Most people would worry about this issue and would not normally do this kind of behavior to their former employers, but Tommy decided that Jim Manzi would rather risk the difficulty of finding a job than pay the two men after being pissed off for so long. An idiot takes a lesson.

It now appears that Tommy guessed right again.

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

The presiding judge, Hart Bronx, rang the gavel for the first time in the trial, signaling to the plaintiff to be quiet. Jon Meyer sighed with an ugly face. Under normal circumstances, the audience should not let the judge Opportunity strikes the gavel to signal silence, and whoever gets the gavel will be recorded, and it becomes a point of contention during the discussion of the final judgment of several judges. At this time, the performance of Jonathan, the founder of Lotus, has obviously made the plaintiff's impression score drop.

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

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

The judge said: "This case has entered the final statement. In the next 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. The plaintiff."

Jon Meyer sorted out the documents in his hand, stood up, and said loudly:

"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 influenced the software Lotus1-2-3 under the name of Lotus Company in terms of operation interface and code. Unequal plagiarism, this is extremely serious corporate theft. Both the patent law and the copyright law clearly indicate the protection of patents and copyrights. The defendant, Actor, uses the public interest as an excuse and cannot cover up their factual infringement. The defendant claims The same software part does not constitute an important part of the software as a whole, so it should not be a reason for the court to refer to. We always believe that Lotus1-2-3 as a whole is entitled to complete copyright protection, and it should be assumed that the copyright is complete and Therefore, we request the court to adjudicate the other party’s factual infringement and compensate Lotus for a series of losses caused by the infringement.”

Delia also received the statement materials that had been prepared earlier from the lawyers of the team:

"Your Honor, the American copyright law is characterized by the idea-expression dichotomy. Copyright law only protects original expressions, not creativity. When adjudicating related cases in court, the commonly used method of abstraction-filter-comparison should be adopted. Which ones are protected and which ones are not, but so far, our country’s laws have not made subdivided legal provisions and related standards based on the emerging thing of computer software to guide relevant industry practitioners, and the same is true for patents, which cannot be covered by patent protection. For other affairs and processes extended from the same idea, we believe that Lotus 1-2-3 of Lotus Company is a unique original expression and should be protected by law, but the OSS developed based on the same idea does not infringe the copyright, it is just The two companies are at the same creative stage, similarity in function does not mean plagiarism, and the operation interface plagiarism repeatedly expressed by the other party has no relevant legal constraints at all. If the operation interface is similar, the entire software is deemed to be plagiarism. I think this is Lotus as an industry. The company with deep influence, the bullying behavior of Actors of small companies, the evidence submitted by us also stated that more than 20 small studios have stated that the software developed by themselves has encountered Lotus’s lawyer’s letter because of some similar functions. Warning, this behavior of the other party is not only aimed at Actor, but also at all similar product companies. I think this kind of copyright protection is too dangerous, which means that Lotus can monopolize the entire similar software and related functions. Based on the above discussion, I request the court It is judged that Actor has not infringed, and is held accountable for the related losses caused by Lotus’s series of targeted actions.”

After the lawyers of both parties finished their final statements cleanly, the judge announced the adjournment, and the five judges got up and left the courtroom one by one.

Then they go to another conference room to discuss the vote and give the final verdict.

Holly looked at Jason with some excitement: "We will definitely win, right?"

"Of course, I made a fucking little film, and now maybe the whole world knows I'm a little film actor, and the sacrifice was so great, and then we lost the lawsuit, and everything but hanging Tommy I can't think of another way to comfort myself." Jason looked at the empty rostrum and said.

Although Delia Keith and the lawyers from Stanford Law School were resting with calm faces, or chatting quietly, and sorting out documents, they were somewhat unconcealably excited.

Although Tommy made a lot of noise before, but the final decision-making power is only the nine justices of the Supreme Court. If a few of them suddenly get angry, they would rather be condemned and resign than insist on defending the rights of Lotus Corporation...

After all, the justices are tenure-track, and they can sit in that chair without resigning voluntarily.

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 related bills are drafted, there will be similar cases. The manuscripts and speeches of these people will continue to be cited 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 wins, they will be the law of the industry. authority.

After a nearly three-hour adjournment, the presiding judge Hart Bronx slowly sat back on the rostrum of the court, holding a fluffy piece of paper in his hand. Seeing the other party appear, the hall was instantly silent, and all eyes were on him. To the ruling in the other party's hand, it determines the fate of the two companies.

"The final opinion on this case was written by Justice David Souter. Together with the chief justice, nine justices voted. Six judges agreed with the final opinion, and three judges disagreed with the court's ruling." The judge's voice slowed down. Said slowly.

At the same time, there were also a few chaotic footsteps outside, which suddenly sounded and then gradually weakened. It sounded like a few people running away quickly, which made everyone in the hall even more anxious. The audience is still a few minutes slower.

The Supreme Court stipulates that there is no equipment for recording images and sounds in the trial. Once the verdict is given, the judge will announce it to both parties and also to the media at the same time. Like this kind of milestone trial, it is even more important from the beginning of the court to the final decision. All written records of the ruling were unreservedly printed out and handed over to the interns of the Supreme Court. The interns quickly sprinted along the 400-meter-long corridor and handed them over to the journalists in charge of the respective news media. Supporters of both sides outside the courtroom ultimately ruled on the situation.

"The Supreme Court has held that no idea is copyrightable in the ideas that form the basis of any element of a computer program, including ideas that form the basis of its interface..."

Before the first sentence was finished, the audience had already burst into warm applause. Delia was already high-fiving the team members excitedly. Jon Meyer, Byron Kennedy and others seemed to have expected the end a long time ago, but just bowed their heads and started Clear up the papers on the desk.

Only Mitch Kapoor and Jonathan Sachs stared blankly at the justice who was still speaking slowly, unable to believe what the other party said at this moment. It was obvious that the other party plagiarized their software, but they didn’t get the response. Some punishment?

"After reading many professional opinions of friends of the court, the Supreme Court is convinced that if one-sided use of traditional copyright laws and patent laws to protect computer programs is equivalent to monopolizing ideas, it is not conducive to technological progress and industrial development of the software industry. We believe that Lotus The operation interface and menu command hierarchy of the software is 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 the same as The operation interface should not be protected by traditional general copyright patents.”

"Compared with other industries, the computer software industry puts more emphasis on interoperability. If traditional patent laws 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 US software industry. At the same time, it is easy to find There are more copyright abuse and patent abuse cases. Therefore, the Supreme Court decided to discuss with Congress the subdivision of the patent law and copyright law based on the computer software industry, and based on this case, the relevant provisions will be formulated more clearly.”

"I declare that the request of Lotus Corporation to sue Actor Corporation for infringement is dismissed. Actor Corporation has no commercial profit infringement under the existing US legal provisions. The lawsuit initiated by the plaintiff based on Section 506 is invalid."

"Actor's countersuit against Lotus for plagiarism, based on the statement of the plaintiff's witness Jim Manz 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 accuse Actor The company was affected, but because Lotus did not disclose the software source code and follow-up development log to the court in this case, the Supreme Court, according to Article 51 of the Procedural Rules, allowed Lotus to choose to file with the court within 90 days before the updated version was released. The professional evaluation team including Actor company submits the source code and development log for the court and Actor company to confirm that there is no reason for plagiarism in order to withdraw the lawsuit, and can also apply for a motion to remain silent until the next official commercial update of Lotus company software, and Actor company itself Collect relevant investigation evidence to determine whether the plagiarized function is used for commercial use, during this period, Lotus will not be affected by any judgment."

"The Supreme Court believes that the relevant bills and standards of the software industry in the future should allow software developers to develop competing products of copyrighted software without infringing copyright, so that it will be more conducive to the development of the industry. This trial ends here. It's over, leave."

Amidst the thunderous applause at the scene, the justice stood up and left the seat. After that, lawyers representing various companies in the computer industry, 176 non-profit organizations, and even Delia Case, Holly - Keener, Jason White, all looked at the people in the Lotus company who lowered their heads and packed up their documents and were about to leave.

There was undisguised greed in his eyes.

Lotus company came to the end at this moment.

Software updates follow Moore's Law, at least one version update per year can maintain vitality. Although Actor's countersuit has no definite result, Lotus' egg has been firmly held by Actor. Want to update? First hand over the source code to Actor to help you check it out. If you find a mistake, you don’t want the software to go public on time. If Lotus dares to go public directly, give Actro the opportunity to collect relevant investigation evidence. Friends, at that time, all of them can become victims of plagiarism and continue to bite. At the same time, other software competes for the market it lost due to the delay of updates. Even if it proves innocent one day, it may only be able to survive. , enjoy the taste of being trapped in an isolated 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, just as Seymour Rubinstein, the CEO of MicroPort, also got up and walked out. He saw Benjamin asked with a smile:

"Anything you want to say? Seymour? Do you want to sue Actor for plagiarism?"

"A new era of order is coming, but Lotus, which had the opportunity to formulate order, stayed in the past forever. I didn't expect that Lotus would be so stupid. It discarded so many hidden powers in the industry and dug its own grave. ’” said the bearded Rubinstein as he walked:

"The Bible tells us that if people commit crimes against each other, God will punish them; if they violate the Lord, who will pray for them?"

I finally finished this court trial, and I will never write about foreign subjects again. It is too painful to search for information without knowing English, 13,000 words, let’s just read it~ These days, the update is always procrastinating, mainly because of the search for these professional knowledge Waste of time, in fact, this case is a reference to three or four real American software industry cases from 1985 to 1991. The appearance of the protagonist made the software industry start to pay attention to order and the speed of ecological construction, which was a little more than a year earlier...

In the past two days, I have finished finishing this volume. I am too tired to open a new volume. I don’t touch too professional things. I can’t hold it anymore. I wasted more than half of my time looking at the materials on the computer.

Finally, I recommend this book in a friendly way: All People: Survival by Grace, starting from the day of elimination