Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 133 Jumping off the Boat
"Eighty million?" Jim looked at Robert Morley, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Eighty million? Are you sure you didn't accidentally write an extra zero when you were recording? And you also have 30% of the shares?"
Robert Morley looked directly at his old friend and shook his head slightly: "In addition to giving this absolutely impossible condition, the other party also hinted at some information."
Jim narrowed his eyes slightly, as if sensing the danger coming. "I hope it's not what I thought, the news about Lotus."
"Delia said that they received a document from an anonymous employee of Lotus who had a sense of justice. It contained some of Lotus' software development logs and update plans." Robert took off his glasses, lowered his head and wiped them slowly, avoiding looking directly at Jim, and said:
"The other party can provide some data for us to verify, but refuses to provide more detailed information. The Constitution protects citizens' privacy rights. Only when the court is actually in session can the court staff obtain authorization and disclose the identity of the anonymous person with his consent."
Jim grabbed his crotch with his hands, made a painful expression, and then slammed his fist on the table: "Congratulations Actor, you have successfully grabbed Lotus' balls! Forcing Lotus to shelve updates and subsequent development progress and public disclosure... Fuck! I can't say any more! I told those idiots a long time ago to be prepared! Nerdy engineers won't fucking sell out the company?"
"Do you want to hear more explosive news?" Robert said to Jim with his head down, "I got a message from my contacts in the court. While Actor was negotiating a settlement with us, the court received 176 friend of the court documents, all of which were non-profit legal advocacy organizations. Not only did they all support Actor, but they also asked the court to speed up the handling of this case."
Jim's eyes widened, staring at Robert. "Fifteen politicians against one hundred and seventy-six non-profit organizations. You can tell with your ass that if my fifteen politician friends get this news after they submit their intervention documents, they will greet me with all kinds of indescribable words. This is a beautiful move. I have to thank Actor for showing mercy to me and saving my own balls. But at the same time, it also means that no politician is willing to accept Lotus' lobbying and public relations again, unless he does not realize the consequences of being targeted by one hundred and seventy-six non-profit organizations."
Robert sighed: "The other party has made their cards clear and staked all their chips. Either pay them 80 million and 30%, or wait for them to countersue. By then..."
"The big companies in the software industry who are not idiots just have the opportunity to stand opposite Lotus and tear it apart openly." Jim said without Robert reminding him:
"One hundred and seventy-six non-profit organizations. At least we know that they are not baited by big companies. Instead, they designed this trap themselves. If a fool falls into it, they will definitely not be able to escape without being bitten off a big piece of fat meat."
"The precedent ideas that the other party wants to get have also roughly surfaced. It seems that the United States has various clauses for intellectual property and patent protection in the computer industry, but in fact that is only at the state level. All current lawsuits in the computer industry regarding patents or intellectual property are based on state laws, or the Supreme Court uses intellectual property law precedents and similar judgments as the main basis. The other party will definitely rely on the huge power accumulated behind it to appeal the case to the Supreme Court and use its influence to get a precedent, because the states may have their own patent laws, but not at the federal level. Do you understand what I mean? This case must be enough to be mentioned most by software industry giants and the U.S. Congress in the next five to ten years." Robert Morley rubbed his eyebrows, put his glasses back on his face, raised his head and said to Jim.
Jim picked up the water cup and took a big gulp of it. After he finished it, he said, "Did this case lead to the introduction of relevant legal provisions in the computer software industry?"
"Not only that, Jim, let me tell you what this means. It means that the U.S. Congress has obtained a new power to regulate patent laws for each state. Before the specific law is enacted, this regulatory power will always exist. To put it bluntly, this is a lawsuit that both large companies in the industry and members of Congress like to hear about. It means that Congress and the Supreme Court can use this precedent to tell the states that there is still room for improvement in your state patent laws. Who will make the improvement? Of course, it will be Congress. Then, software companies will no longer have to consider the provisions of state laws on patents, because they are not complete enough. Congress is responsible for setting this standard. Before the law is enacted, if you encounter similar lawsuits, you only need to pay lobbying companies. The company can just ask congressmen to stand up for you. The standards can be issued first, but I guess the specific legal provisions will not appear in five to ten years. Congressmen will not be interested in issuing laws unless they take the opportunity to use their regulatory power to make enough benefits. Industry giants and congressmen will thank Actor, which used Lotus as a sacrifice to successfully help the real tycoons in this industry to open up a way to make peace with politicians and take the opportunity to expand. At least before the law is issued, the congressional regulatory power is the power granted to Congress by the U.S. Constitution, which overrides the laws of each state and is supreme. "Robert explained to Jim why he could now determine that this case would definitely be a historic precedent:
"Use the influence of nonprofit organizations to bring the case to the Supreme Court. Then, the case will naturally appear on the desks of congressmen. As long as they take a look, they can smell the smell of blood and banknote ink. At that time, the giants of the software industry will definitely intervene in the case, because Actor has helped to illuminate a path. They can move towards a better future by stepping on the corpse of Lotus."
Jim put down the water cup in his hand and looked at the layout of Robert's office with an excited expression on his face. "Except for the victim, everyone is on his side. This is a clever and high-IQ robbery. Either pay the money obediently, or the murderer will send the victim to the gallows. In just half a year since leaving McKinsey, I have met three young geniuses. The only difference is that Mickey and Jonathan were computer geniuses who were still coding in the garage last year, but this year they are billionaires. And this Tommy Hawke is a genius business robber who robs houses."
After he finished speaking, he stood up and put on his suit jacket: "I'll go back to see Mickey and Jonathan and tell them to be prepared to accept the settlement."
"Will those two...genius engineers who are obsessed with technology agree?" Robert asked curiously.
"Of course I'll agree. We'll buy Actor for 80 million and repackage it so that it can help us use this trick against other companies. We'll gain more then." Jim said in a positive tone:
"If they have no objection, I even hope they can buy out Tommy Hawke, the real mastermind, with 30% of the shares."
…
"I don't agree!" Jonathan, the chief technology officer and co-founder of Lotus, said angrily, "They copied us and blackmailed us, and you, as our vice president of business, actually suggested that the company pay those blackmailers?!"
There was no excitement on Jim's face at this moment. He just looked calmly at Jonathan who was questioning him. He didn't have the excitement that he had just had when he came back to tell the two of them the whole case and all of Tommy Hawke's methods. Because after he finished explaining, the idiot Jonathan was still angry, which made Jim completely unable to understand what he was angry about?
The two of them should be as excited as I am, and should quickly decide to buy Actor, and then use this trick to deal with other companies and make more money.
The performance of these two nerds at this time made Jim have a conclusion in his mind, that is, they didn't believe in him at all, and thought he was making a fuss and exaggerating the threat to show his importance in the company. It didn't matter. Anyway, he had given the advice he could give. If they were willing to go to the gallows, Jim would of course respect their choice.
However, seeing Jonathan staring at him fiercely, waiting for his response, Jim could only say calmly:
"That's right. This is the business world. There are no laws or concepts of good and evil. Every company could be a murderer or a victim. It's just that the victim this time is Lotus. But I think it's okay to buy Actor for 80 million. I've made it very clear. Jonathan, Robert has detailed enough information. We don't stand a chance. The other party is just a robber who has been silently wiping his dagger in the dark and observing us for a long time. Then he suddenly appears in front of us, puts the dagger to our throats, and tells us that we either pay up or he kills Lotus in the name of getting rid of harm to the people. Those ignorant bystanders will only applaud, while other participants in the dark will take the opportunity to amass wealth."
"Even if we lose, Lotus will not die, Mickey. Do you believe what Jim said? If Lotus does not agree, it will eventually close down or suffer heavy losses." Jonathan turned his head to look at his companion Mickey, his tone full of disdain for Jim.
"Industry standards bypass various products launched by Lotus now and in the future. In business activities, this behavior is called a walled garden. No matter how big a company is, when it is outside the industry ecosystem and standards, it is just a small island. Because of mutual incompatibility and lack of interoperability, Lotus receives countless lawyers' letters from other companies every time it updates, reminding Lotus that if they dare to find any problems involving industry patents, you will be besieged again." Jim bit the straw and took a sip of Coke:
"The final result is that if Lotus wants to continue to make money in the software industry, it will have to spend more money to break down the garden wall. I think by then, the money Lotus paid will be far more than 80 million."
Jonathan sneered at Jim and said, "Jim, you know what you said is bullshit! You are the same as that bastard from Actor Company. You think people like us who only know technology and books are easily scared. Just a few threats to us will make us tremble with fear and throw money to avoid being tortured. But I tell you, it won't happen again! I have tens of millions in my bank account, but I will never pay a penny to blackmailers like you!"
"What do you think, Mickey?" Jim bit the straw, rolled his eyes and looked at Mickey Kapur, who had not expressed his opinion before.
"Jim, why don't you take a vacation and rest..." Mickey had been listening to the two of them talking without saying a word. When he heard Jonathan breaking up, he could only raise his head and sighed and said to Jim Manz.
Jim extinguished the little flame of hope in his heart and interrupted Mickey Kapur in a crisp tone: "Forget it, Mickey, no need for a vacation, I resign. I guess since you can tell me to take a vacation, it proves that you have found someone who can replace me. It's a pity that I didn't work at Lotus for a full year and get the shares you promised. It's not your fault. I can only blame Tommy Hawke for acting too early. That's all."
"Jim, if you're willing to help..." Mickey pursed his lips and smiled politely, trying to retain the vice president he had invited.
"No ifs. I can't lose fifteen politician friends because of this shitty lawsuit! Do you understand? No matter how much money I get, I won't give up those connections." Jim took two steps toward the door, turned around, walked quickly to the desk, grabbed the table hard, and glared at Mickey:
"You said you trusted me before! That's your trust! Between me and your stupid companion! Always choose that stupid one!"
After he finished cursing, he took a few deep breaths and said, "Well, at least before I leave, you should tell me who will take over my job."
"Baron Kennedy, who graduated from Harvard Business School and previously worked at Goldman Sachs and IBM." Mickey said to Jim Manz, "Jim, we are grateful to you..."
"Don't be grateful to me. Remember my last advice to you. Hurry up and write a will for Lotus! That idiot who is supported by Goldman Sachs with a high salary and responsible for public relations when necessary by relying on the Kennedy family's name can't do anything. Although the congressmen are all idiots, they will not pay attention to his public relations this time. After all, no matter how idiotic they are, they still know whether to make money once or five to ten years." Jim strode out the door without stopping:
"This ship is sinking. Goodbye."
