Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 117 Happy Cooperation
Delia walked out of the regular meeting office and headed towards the independent reception room for partners. Through the bright glass, Kane saw Delia walking towards the reception room. He stood up first and said to Tommy and Sophia who were sitting next to him:
"Ms. Case is here."
The two of them also stood up humbly and waited for the other to come in. Sophia couldn't hide the excitement on her face. She even squeezed Tommy's little finger with her hand to express her feelings about meeting her idol and that this bastard Tommy Hawke finally kept his word to her.
Although there are many practicing female lawyers in the United States, most of them work in firms established after World War II. Those old white-shoe firms may absorb some female lawyers, but often those female lawyers do not have many opportunities for promotion during that time.
It's not about gender discrimination or inequality. On the contrary, the legal profession is very equal in the United States. It is precisely because of equality that it is more difficult for female lawyers to stand out.
Male lawyers can go on vacation with clients and politicians, spend a lot of time together, and even go to high-end clubs to have sex with prostitutes, which can bring them closer. What should female lawyers do? Even if she doesn't mind, the other party will mind.
Therefore, apart from cooperating with work, female lawyers are basically completely cut off from clients, politicians, and superiors. They cannot get into those circles full of male chauvinism, cannot get truly influential cases, and will only continue to distance themselves from those male lawyers. Ultimately, they have no choice but to rely on their resumes from white-shoe firms to switch to an ordinary firm with a high salary, and ultimately have nothing to do with the word "elite" anymore.
This is also the reason why every birth of a female partner in a white-shoe elite law firm is considered major news in the industry. After all, the last time a female partner was born in one of the top 20 law firms in the United States with the white-shoe title was in 1959, more than 20 years ago. At that time, a lady named Elizabeth Meagher did it at Sidley Austin LLP, which was ranked second in the United States that year.
The second one is Delia Keys, who is walking towards the reception room at this moment. She has neat silver hair and is wearing a black women's suit. She joined Davis Polk Law Firm in 1971 and became the second female partner of the white shoe elite firm in eleven years.
These two women are idols of all female students in law schools across the United States, and Sophia is no exception. Not all girls have the opportunity to meet these two people. For a girl like Sophia who studies at Stanford Law School, if she does not have a letter of recommendation from an important client, she will not even be qualified to intern at a law firm like Davis Polk.
For students studying law, if you are not from Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, or the University of Chicago Law School, there is basically a 95% chance that you will have no intersection with such white-shoe firms in your career unless you become their client.
"Tommy? Sophia?" Delia walked in and said their names generously: "Good morning, I'm sorry I'm late. Today's regular meeting took a while."
Tommy offered his hand. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Case."
"Ms. Case, after we finish talking about business, can I take a picture with you? I even bought a Polaroid camera just to meet you." Sophia waited for Tommy to shake hands with him, then she walked forward with a look of reverence on her face and stretched out her hand to Delia.
Delia smiled and nodded: "Of course, no problem. Seeing you is like seeing myself twenty years ago. I said the same thing when I first met Ms. Elizabeth Meagher."
After letting go of Sophia's hand, Delia sat down in her seat, her hands shaking on the table, and she spoke very quickly:
"OK, we've often been delayed for a few minutes, so we'd better make up for the lost time. Enough of the pleasantries, let's get down to business. Kane, prepare some coffee for us. Actor, right? It's a software company founded by Mr. Tommy Hawke. I've looked up the information I have so far. According to the US maritime law system, which refers to the previous sentencing of similar or similar cases, what Actor did is undoubtedly a violation of copyright law. You copied the interface and functions of Lotus, and the other party even has a special edition. You thoughtfully inserted the code written by the boss of the other company into it, paying tribute to the other party and leaving them with tangible evidence, right?"
Tommy nodded and didn't argue, "But if we were just copying, I don't think you would be interested, Ms. Case."
"Of course, when the lady named Holly Keener from Actor contacted me, she mentioned some public opinion points, such as women's employment and equal rights, and said that your income seemed to be used for charity and not put into your own pockets. This is the main reason why I am interested in listening to the end." Delia stared at Tommy Hawke who sat down again with a calm face and said:
"I want to hear what kind of contributions Actor has made to women's employment and equal rights, so that I can stand firm on the moral level. If the other party does not want their image to be damaged, it is likely that we can reach a settlement before the trial."
Tommy clenched his fist and put it to his lips, biting them gently. After about five or six seconds, he put his hand down and said to Delia, "According to what you said just now, Ms. Case, I have roughly thought about your idea. You think Actor has infringed your rights, so you want to understand the influence of Actor in those public welfare activities and make sure that the profits earned by Actor do not fall into my pocket, but continue to support public welfare. In this way, even if the court is opened, when it is learned that everything Actor does is just for public welfare activities and not for pure profit, it can also make a fuss about this point and convince the jury, and finally get the most favorable verdict, or reach a settlement with the other party who is worried about reputation damage."
"Based on our current understanding, this is the best outcome." Delia nodded.
Tommy looked at Delia and asked a question, "I assume the previous case you're referring to is the 1981 case where Stern Games sued Almighty Video Games for copyright infringement?"
"Yes, this case became a precedent for the US court to rule that computer programs infringe copyright, and it was determined that the copyright of computer programs includes images, sounds, and codes." Delia flipped through the notebook at hand and said affirmatively.
Tommy pursed his lips. "Very good. First of all, I am very sure that OSS has not infringed on the sound and code. There is only one unresolved issue, that is, should the operating interface of a computer program be considered as an audiovisual work? The case that happened in 1981 involved two games. Their sound, pictures, and codes were almost identical. It was normal for them to be convicted of infringement, but computer programs are different. Unlike games as audiovisual works, they do not provide a variety of pictures. They only have an operating interface, which is not even a picture. There is no picture, just the layout of menus and commands. There is no definition of this at present. I think if you let your colleagues who are proficient in copyright law and literary work law discuss this, you will find this very interesting. Is the interface an operating habit or a patent protected by copyright?"
"Secondly, if the answer to the first point is operating habits, then the second question is, is software reverse engineering illegal? In other words, I made a similar software based on Lotus software, but the specific code to achieve the restoration is completely different from it. Is this behavior illegal? The computer software industry also has no clear regulations. Friendly reminder, reverse engineering in other industries is not illegal, refer to the 1972 Yacht War."
"The third point is the compatibility issue. OSS can open files generated by Lotus software, but please note that it is only in read-only form. My software will use obvious signs to remind customers that WKE files can only be opened in read-only form. This function is just to help customers so that they don't have to run two softwares in a hurry. Therefore, it is compatible with the software that can be opened in read-only form. Any modification of Lotus software files by OSS is the customer's own behavior and has nothing to do with our company. We set a read-only restriction, but the restriction may be easier to crack. If the other party insists on this infringement, we can delete this function that is intended to improve customer work efficiency later."
Delia listened to Tommy's thoughts, thought for more than ten seconds, and finally shook her head: "Tommy, you obviously have done a lot of research with Sophia on related cases. According to you, your code and sound are not copied from Lotus, it is just an operating interface. You need to let the court give an answer. Should this be regarded as an operating habit that facilitates users, or a software patent protected by copyright? This is very critical. You want to make it a precedent in the software industry, right?"
Tommy nodded. "Yes, this is crucial."
"Let me tell you the cruel truth. You sent a letter of defense, which means you have no objection and accepted the Massachusetts court to accept the case. The other party's firm is Hale & Doerr, an old-fashioned white-shoe firm that is not much different from us in the industry. Most importantly, the firm's headquarters is in Boston. In this case, you hope that the court will make a biased judgment. The most important problem is to deal with the jury. Believe me, none of those judges, clerks, and jurors are really proficient in copyright law. Being a judge in the United States does not require proficiency in all laws, but you need to deal with them. Do you understand? If you want a 12-person jury in the Massachusetts court to support you, you must at least deal with four key jurors in advance, that is, the four people who can influence the final vote of other jurors. I guess Lotus has already dealt with all this at this time. Even if you are unwilling to appeal to the circuit court, it will still be the same end. It is so cruel. You think you have a chance to attract attention, but I tell you, money can solve everything. You and Actor will fail and continue to be unknown." Delia took a sip of the coffee that Kane helped to bring, and continued:
"Unless you tell me now that you have sufficient funds and can give me 50 million or 100 million so that I can mobilize all my forces to help you take care of everything in Massachusetts, from investigating and collecting evidence to lobbying jurors, at all costs, and even help you find ways to move the court to California, otherwise no one will care about the debate point of whether your operating interface is a habit or a patent. Do you think those precedents become precedents just because they are worth it? The answer is, No. In all commercial laws in the United States, only when both parties are evenly matched and the camps continue to expand, will there be a chance to become precedents by virtue of influence."
Seeing that Tommy didn't say anything, Delia shrugged and put down her coffee:
"So, I suggest you talk to me about those public welfare activities, increase the settlement or win the sympathy of the jury, and ultimately strive for no compensation, just stop the infringement and hand over the relevant data."
"That is to say, one hit from the other side will knock us down completely, right? Without any ability to fight back." Tommy lowered his head and rubbed his hands, as if he was talking to himself, or asking a question.
Delia replied, "Yes, that's why I suggested using charity activities to gain sympathy."
"I don't want to fall at the first blow, nor do I want to reconcile with the other party. If I remember correctly, Ms. Case, there is a friend of the court system in the United States, right? A friend of the court can voluntarily provide legal documents with relevant information or legal opinions to the court to assist the litigation and let the judge and jury know the points of dispute." Tommy raised his head and looked at Delia and said.
Delia frowned slightly. "You mean, you found a few classmates from Stanford Law School to help you in court? Listen, Tommy, in Massachusetts, if you try to influence the verdict in this way, it will only anger the court and the jury. I just said that it is their territory. You must show enough influence."
"No, one hundred and seventy-six public welfare organizations registered as non-profit legal advocacy organizations, with a total of more than 30,000 members, are willing to submit documents to the court as friends of the court regarding this lawsuit, and give a comprehensive explanation of 176 arguments on the infringement in this case, and intervene in the case judgment. Because they are non-profit organizations and legal advocacy organizations, the documents of these organizations will be more valued by the court. In other words, if the court makes a ruling that contradicts all the friends of the court, these non-profit legal advocacy organizations can directly challenge the higher court and question the unclear and unmotivated rulings made by the judges and jurors." Tommy Hawke looked at Delia:
"Do you think that 176 non-profit organizations and more than 30,000 people's special attention are enough to withstand the blow from the state court and the circuit court? If not, there are more than 100 prostitutes who can fly to the Massachusetts court for a press conference at any time. The other unmobilized forces include the 20,000 surviving members of the SSD fraternity and the reserve forces in Florida."
"One hundred and seventy-six? Nonprofit legal advocacy organizations?" Delia's face flashed with surprise. She couldn't help but flip through the folder and look at Actor's company information again: "And they have prepared detailed explanatory documents?"
It's just an ordinary small company founded by Stanford students who are passionate about charity, that's all.
It is not surprising to have amicus curiae in a lawsuit, and it is not surprising for a company with a lot of money to directly find hundreds of amicus curiae to support it. But the 176 amicus curiae that Tommy Hawke mentioned at this time are non-profit legal advocacy organizations. In other words, they are 176 organizations that are registered for the purpose of calling for various legislations or advocating legal reforms. The amicus curiae that the court attaches the most importance to are, firstly, civil servants who hold positions in state agencies, and secondly, this kind of non-profit legal advocacy organization.
Most importantly, these organizations must have their own lawyers, that is, the organization must have a fixed amount of donations to hire lawyers to run the organization's legal firm, and the document submitted to the court must be drafted by professional lawyers hired by the organization.
It is absolutely impossible that it is a makeshift team established by three or two initiators.
"One hundred and seventy-six women's rights organizations in universities. If we exclude the Stanford Women's Equality Association on the grounds that they are closely related to the parties to the lawsuit, that makes one hundred and seventy-five." Tommy stared at Delia calmly: "Do you think these are enough to block..."
Delia interrupted Tommy with a firm tone, "It's enough to catch the other party off guard. With you showing these cards, Lotus can only try to delay the case and spend a lot of time trying to find ways to offset the influence of these friends of the court on the court. But I'm curious about another question. From this incident, I realized that you can put together such a force to help your small company besiege Lotus, a software upstart. You don't seem like someone who would commit a mistake like infringement."
"This is another issue I want to talk about. Do you remember the special edition in the other party's hands? During this period when the other party was caught off guard and tried to settle or delay, Actor wanted to counter-sue Lotus for plagiarism. They must maintain normal software updates. Regardless of whether the new features they launched are plagiarism or not, believe me, there must be functions similar to OSS in the update plan, and I am sure that the programmers of Lotus must have seen my version of the software. As long as they have seen it, it is an opportunity to throw dirty water. Of course, this requires you, Lawyer Case, to show your ability and find a way to get the programmer's testimony from Lotus or the other party's willingness to be a witness during the evidence collection stage." Tommy said to Delia:
"My company is not for profit, and I am not for profit, so I will not make mistakes. Even if I lose the infringement case, I can use the non-profit principle to minimize the trouble. All I have to do is close the company and hand over the data. My good moral performance will ensure that I will never go to jail. But I am not an ordinary insect. I am a firefly. I am not for profit. Infringement can make the jury forgive me morally, but I want to illuminate Lotus, which is a commercial company. Plagiarism by a commercial company, or even suspected plagiarism , is fatal when there are enemies and opponents everywhere."
Delia tried to digest it for more than ten seconds before she slowed down her speech. Her eyes changed from indifference to appreciation, but she still expressed her opinion truthfully:
"If the other party notices your intention and announces the cancellation of the update, your long-prepared all-out attack will be in vain, and you will get nothing if you countersue. It is better for you to wait until the other party officially launches the update before countersuing and asking for compensation."
Tommy spread his hands towards her and said, "No, I don't want anything. I don't want any compensation. Actor is a small company that focuses on public welfare. It's not for claims or settlement fees. Lotus wants to resolve our counterclaims. It's very simple. They just need to disclose their development progress and code to prove their innocence. Actor's disclosure of OSS software has no impact on me, but if Lotus discloses it, it's like its clothes are being taken off, and the company's main business is exposed to everyone. If it refuses to disclose it, then at this time, large software companies that are salivating over Lotus' market and looking for opportunities to take advantage of its misfortune, as long as they are not idiots, will naturally join as the second wave of friends of the court. Based on the flaws exposed by Lotus, they will launch a more fierce attack and will not stop until Lotus is severely damaged by Actor's hand."
"You've done so much, but you've never thought about making money for yourself? Even at this point, you and Actor Company are just a handy tool for those big companies, and it's free." Delia's voice was a little excited, and she licked her lips subconsciously.
Tommy laughed. "No, those big companies will use the war between Actor, a small bug, and Lotus, an elephant, to solve the second problem that may be included in the computer software industry case law: should software standards be unified or divided? If Lotus refuses to disclose it, it means it has chosen to divide. Big companies will naturally know better than me how to cut Lotus. Eating meat does not need to be taught by others. Eating is a biological instinct."
"In 1979, IBM almost became an elephant like Lotus. In the end, it would rather lose some of its profits than become an elephant that was besieged by the crowd. It sued Oracle and then quickly withdrew the lawsuit. It was not because it wanted to reconcile with Oracle, but because it was waiting for the legal terms to be perfected and help it apply a protective color, and then it would take a safe approach to deal with Oracle and try to avoid the situation of Lotus today. Obviously, it did nothing wrong, but these companies in the industry just wanted to take the opportunity to eat it up." Sophia suddenly remembered that Tommy had told her about the case in 1979 that had just happened and was quickly resolved. At this time, she looked at Tommy with a blank expression beside her in shock and said:
"From the day Actor was founded, its purpose was to... help the companies that you mentioned build the ecosystem find prey and then replace them."
"What I want is that whether software standards are unified or divided in the future, it has nothing to do with Lotus. Lotus will be excluded and replaced by the weaker and more harmless Actor. Through this case, Actor will take its place and participate in the formulation of computer software standards, especially the standards for office software." Tommy ignored Sophia's words and looked at Delia.
“By then, I can say to all those who support Actor that justice has defeated evil, and we have defeated capital.”
Delia exhaled heavily, "Actor is a small company in the eye of the storm. Are you sure it can still exist after Lotus is dealt with?"
"Sure. It's only weak when I need it to be weak. I've asked members of the SSD Brotherhood headquarters to help contact SSD alumnus Henry Perot. His EDS has been providing office system support to the US government as a contractor. Although it doesn't have its own research, he would be interested in intervening in software standards. If he's not interested, I have a friend. At that time, Actor had already gone through the most difficult time for me. I can ask him to invest 20 million in Actor."
"Very good, stop enjoying the bright future. I am concerned about one thing now. How much are you going to pay me, Tommy?" Delia interrupted Tommy and laughed: "I am very interested in this case, but if you don't have money, don't expect me to help you."
Tommy also laughed. "We are so happy to talk about justice and public welfare, but in the end, it is inevitable that they will be materialized. Ms. Case, your greedy face makes me sad."
"My hourly consulting fee is 260 yuan. According to the previous case process time, the evidence collection and disclosure stage, the total working time is about 120 hours, and the cost is about 32,000 yuan. This does not include the cost of hiring other lawyers as a lawyer to form a team and hiring a professional investigation agency to collect evidence. In the court session, my personal working time is about 175 hours, and the cost is 46,000 yuan. Your counterclaim or appeal will take about 120 hours and 32,000 yuan. In order to help the employer win the chance or set obstacles for the other party in the court confrontation, you may need to apply to the court to initiate various motions. This is an uncertain expense. Roughly calculated, just want me to accompany you through the entire case from beginning to end, it will cost about 200,000. The other team lawyers and evidence collection fees will cost at least 200,000, that is, a total of 400,000. This is just the best case quotation. If the other party delays and prolongs various times, it will rise rapidly." Delia smiled at Tommy and said:
"Of course, you don't have to pay the full amount, but if you want to sign a contract with this law firm, you have to pay at least 100,000 yuan in upfront fees."
" If you don't mind giving me a detailed quote and don't worry about me making the price public, I think the price is reasonable. You know I'm a public-spirited person and it's unlikely that I can come up with so much money myself, so..." Tommy rubbed his hands, "I have to ask other people to come up with the money, such as selling the software to supporters in Florida, or selling it to the 176 organizations? Or some other payment method, but don't worry, I will never default on the money I owe to the lawyer."
"The company was founded with the start-up support funds from Stanford University, and the cost of the lawsuit against Lotus was raised by selling infringing Lotus software. If you lose the lawsuit, you don't have to bear the blame, but if you win, you will gain all the fame and fortune." Delia looked at the young man in front of her, who was dressed in a gloomy manner, as if she didn't know how to evaluate him. In the end, she could only sigh:
"You shouldn't be bullying those poor programmers. You should study political science and become a politician."
"If I were a politician, you would have to be careful, Ms. Case. Politicians don't pay easily." Tommy stood up, walked in front of Delia, and extended his hand to her: "Happy cooperation."
Delia ignored Tommy's teasing and stood up to shake hands with Tommy: "It's a pleasure to work with you."
