America 1982-Chapter 194 - 73: Fat on the Table
When the United States Federal First Circuit Court once again ruled that Lotus Corporation had won the lawsuit, Robert Molley felt increasingly anxious, as if Lotus were unknowingly slipping deeper into an abyss.
The attention to the lawsuit was growing, because all users who had used OSS were invisibly tied into it, and they were more concerned about the final outcome of the lawsuit than the average person.
Although Jim Manzi had left Lotus Corporation, Byron Kennedy, the newly appointed, had not completely replaced him as the attorney; of course, Jim was no longer the chief attorney. Byron Kennedy had hired a white-shoe attorney from the world-class law firm, a figure worthy of being Robert’s teacher, to take over the case. Now, Robert was just a team member in name, responsible for some auxiliary work.
The elegant Byron Kennedy appeared at the door of Robert’s office with light steps, softly knocked on the door, and asked him warmly, "Robert, do you have a moment?"
"Of course." Robert was curious that the other party would come to see him; since Jim had resigned, Lotus Corporation had always contacted him by phone. It was the first time the new vice president had personally visited.
He stood up and personally poured a glass of water for him, then looked at the man with the Kennedy Family’s signature nose, his gaze filled with perplexity, "So, Mr. Kennedy, what brings you here? If it’s about work, you could have had someone else give me a call." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
"The other party has appealed to the Supreme Court, and their countersuit has also been combined with the appeal to the Supreme Court. What do you think about this issue?" Byron Kennedy settled onto the sofa opposite Robert, gently stretching his neck, and asked Robert as if making casual conversation.
Robert’s face showed confusion; nowadays, asking for his opinion was of little use. The whole world knew that Lotus Corporation was being tightly gripped, the only ones out of touch were the company’s two founders and the Kennedy Family scion sitting in front of him. Byron Kennedy was still intensifying efforts, lobbying politicians to help Lotus Corporation intervene in the lawsuit as an amicus curiae.
"Well, the Supreme Court now requires the parties involved and those interested in this lawsuit as friends of the court to submit briefs before the final pre-trial conference to answer a few questions. It seems that Congress is also considering scheduling hearings, a situation that is very unfavorable for Lotus Corporation."
This was not an exaggeration—the Supreme Court justices had directly posed four questions, asking the parties involved and friends of the court to answer before the pre-trial conference and to reach some consensus agreements on the same views during the conference.
The first question was how to view non-profit infringement and section 506 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act; the second question, whether software interfaces are patented or user customs; the third question, whether the hundreds of thousands of users who succumbed to Actor Corporation’s free "Temptation," using and learning OSS software, are considered to be participating in infringement, thereby expanding the influence of the infringement and causing more losses to Lotus Corporation; the fourth question, the standard delineation between computer software patents and copyright.
All of Lotus Corporation’s friends of the court were politicians or public officials, and anyone could guess their answers with their backside—for the court, these answers had no professional reference value.
But as Actor Corporation lost the case, besides the one hundred and seventy-six non-profit organizations, now there is an organization named EFF that has intervened as a friend of the court. At the same time, IBM, Compaq, Microsoft, Micron, Borland and other software companies have intervened as friends of the court—all are practitioners in the software industry; from a professional perspective, the judge would certainly consider the answers of these software practitioners.
The involvement of these friends of the court has been taken very seriously by the Supreme Court; Congress even established a committee for this case and is preparing to invite some software companies to appear as witnesses at hearings, to share their expert opinions regarding some uncertainties in this case. Everyone drawn into this has realized that they have reached a crucial moment—trial.
Except for those two bookish nerds from Lotus Corporation who are still overjoyed with their back-to-back victories.
What does this mean? It means that the other side has prepared everything, and several major software companies in the industry have already conspired to open their gaping maws to tear Lotus Corporation apart, who has reached the apex of the electronic spreadsheet software industry. After killing it, they will sit down to discuss industry standards.
"That’s what I was getting ready to discuss with you. I’ve had the company take out an additional five million for lobbying and public relations spending. If you or, shall I say, Hale and Dorr doesn’t have the right connections for lobbying, I can allocate a portion of this money to the lobbying firm you recommend," Byron Kennedy said to Robert.
"Mr. Kennedy, do you really think we have a chance of winning? I don’t know what your chief lawyer has promised you, but as far as I see it, we don’t stand a chance at all. The former vice president, Jim Manzi, has already realized this, which is why he chose to resign." Seeing this guy still holding out hope and continuing to prepare money for lobbying, Robert couldn’t help but lower his voice and ask:
"Can Lotus Corporation afford to bribe all those major software companies to support Lotus and join their game, abandoning Actor Corporation? Impossible."
"Jim Manzi is a kind-hearted scoundrel, Robert. I think you and he are somewhat alike, but you obviously haven’t figured out how the game is played. Let me tell you, I’ve known for a long time that Lotus doesn’t stand a chance, but that doesn’t prevent me from being the vice president of the company. During this time, I’ve made my friends a fortune. Do you think I was preparing to turn the tide? No, I was just using Lotus’s money to maintain my own network. My friends have always been clear about this, which is why they supported Lotus in the first two lawsuits," Byron Kennedy laughed when Robert reminded him that there was no chance of winning:
"Losing the lawsuit doesn’t conflict with us making money off it, right? Just like after losing the lawsuit, Lotus will still have to pay you your salary. My friends don’t appreciate Lotus, but they thank me. Even after losing the lawsuit, we should continue to have Lotus spend money on lobbying for legislation. The reason I kept you on the team is because I thought we could become friends. Lawyers will eventually become politicians, and I believe that in another decade or so, you too will consider becoming a congressman pleading for the people."
Seeing the smile on Kennedy’s face reminded Robert of what Jim Manzi said when he resigned and bid farewell: "Those two bookish nerds will eventually be bled dry and end up on the streets."
Comparing Jim with Mr. Kennedy, Robert felt that the fact Lotus Corporation had survived up until now was all thanks to their having employed Jim. Once Jim left, the entire company immediately went from a software giant to an industry carcass. Even though everyone knows that Actor Corporation is wrong, they will stand by their side and use Actor to bite Lotus to death, and only then declare such actions wrong. They will push for legislation to improve it, to prevent such an event from happening again, even the company’s own vice president is just in it for his own gain.
"What can I say then? On behalf of my influential friends, I thank you for your trust, and they will surely do their best," Robert sighed and drove away any fleeting thoughts of conscientiousness, smiling at Byron Kennedy.
