America 1982-Chapter 118 - 33: What Is Called a Surprise
"Click-click-click-click..."
Tommy cracked his knuckles, producing a clear, crisp sound.
Sophia O’Connor, a Stanford University law school graduate student who was speaking, stopped mid-sentence and frowned slightly as she looked at Tommy’s clasped hands. "I thought college students should have learned the basic etiquette of remaining quiet while someone else is speaking, Tommy Hawk."
"Dear Miss Sophia O’Connor, you’ve spent a week telling me that my software would still be considered plagiarized, and you’ve kindly prepared a pile of documents for me. I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me, so I asked you to have lunch together," Tommy Hawk raised his head, looking at Sophia:
"But none of those documents you brought are related to the computer industry, let alone the software industry. Their relevance is quite low, and they put me to sleep. At times like this, I must do something to avoid actually falling asleep."
Sophia set down her fork and wiped her lips before speaking, "I explained to you that the software industry is just starting to develop, and there aren’t any landmark cases that could provide guidance..."
"As I understand, there was an inconsequential software industry case. I thought you would be able to gather relevant information at Stanford Law School," Tommy said as he sipped his soup and then sighed at Sophia. "But obviously, I was wrong. Thinking about it, an inconsequential case, it doesn’t hold any value worthy of being recorded."
"What case?" Sophia asked curiously after hearing Tommy’s words.
Tommy placed a piece of fish into his mouth, "The multi-billion dollar IBM, in ’79, sued a newly formed software company called Oracle, which had just $2,000 in startup capital. Strangely enough, before the court date arrived, IBM opted to withdraw the lawsuit. For most of the world, it’s as if the case never happened. But I suspect something must have transpired because Oracle almost completely copied IBM’s database software. This way, for both software’s first versions, apart from the names, there were no differences. Oracle even copied the bugs from IBM’s software. So, I’m very curious why IBM didn’t crush them?"
"So, you’re actually in trouble and hope your company could be like Oracle and avoid being sued?" Sophia asked slowly, staring into Tommy’s eyes.
"No, we’re just discussing the ’79 case while dining. That’s all I know. I had hoped Stanford Law could have the related material and give me an answer, but obviously, they don’t. So we’re back to the initial question: how to define plagiarism. That case could have set a precedent and laid down rules for this emerging industry, yet it retreated just before its inception." Tommy ran his hand through his hair:
"About IBM’s decision to withdraw, I’ve thought about it--a lot, enough to last about a month. Every day, aside from studying, I’ve been trying to find related material in the library and pondering this question. Why the elephant didn’t crush the ant... but there’s so little information on the case, and neither party has made any public statements. Are you curious why I idly crack my knuckles? Because during that month of contemplation, I’ve already familiarized myself with all the potentially helpful material you are now offering."
Sophia looked at Tommy in surprise: "You keep saying you’re studying computer engineering, but your previous thoughts sound more like a tenacious lawyer collecting data or evidence."
"Since I can’t afford a lawyer, I have to do all this myself. I have to keep refining my thoughts until, in conjecture, I arrived at a possibility. Then, I founded a company to test whether my guess is correct, and incidentally, to make some money." Tommy’s gaze was straightforward, making no attempt to avoid Sophia’s eyes as he spoke.
Unable to bear Tommy’s piercing gaze, Sophia used the act of bowing her head to eat to break eye contact. At the same time, she asked, "What supposition?"
"The big companies in the computer industry are starting to contemplate the construction of an industry ecosystem," Tommy asserted confidently.
"I think you might need to read more economics books. Remember, this is the United State America. The larger the company, the greedier they are for wealth." Sophia had thought that after so much consideration, Tommy would come up with some astonishing insight. She had lowered her head, ready to listen attentively, only to hear him naively attribute IBM’s decision to the company’s concern for industry development—so she couldn’t help but laugh as she lifted her head and mockingly said to Tommy.
Tommy shook his head, "Miss O’Connor, my statement is not about them being non-greedy. You’re mocking the wrong point. My statement means the exact opposite of what you understand. I’m saying they are too greedy. Right, actually, there’s another reason I invited you to lunch. Do you have a recommendation for a lawyer? One who is affordable but competent to help my little company. Preferably with at least slightly better language comprehension skills than you." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Sophia removed her black-framed glasses, a touch of annoyance in her action of pretending to roll up her sleeves. Her tone carried a veiled threat as she looked at Tommy, "That statement of yours makes me feel the urge to throw coffee in the face of a certain asking-for-it individual."
