Facebook 30 亿并购VR公司竟是"科技史上最大抢劫”? 小扎被迫出庭接受质问
Facebook 30 亿并购VR公司
竟是"科技史上最大抢劫”?
小扎被迫出庭接受质问
继民财经汇导读：正当这几天国内媒体大量报道“华为6名前员工泄密被正式批捕 包括部分现酷派员工” （见每日经济新闻2017年1月19日）之事件的时刻， 美国硅谷的科技巨头Facebook 脸书公司正因为30亿美元的VR 并购交易，而被指控侵犯知识产权，被指控是“科技史上最大的抢劫行为之一”。脸书的创始人小扎也被法庭要求出庭作证，接受陪审团的质问。 脸书先是申请不同意让小扎出庭作证，但是该申请被法官拒绝，于是本周二（1月17日）不得不亲自出庭接受询问。
脸书于2014年以20亿美元的对价，外加10亿美元的员工挽留支出，购入了VR 公司 Oculus。此项并购的总支出据说接近30亿美元。
而本案的原告Zenimax， 网络游戏发行公司，则很快起诉脸书公司，宣称Zenimax 剽窃了其VR 技术，要求脸书赔偿20亿美元。 Zenimax 指出， Oculus 公司管理层在知情的情况下盗取了Zenimax 公司的id 软件，并从其公司雇佣了五名软件工程师，进行秘密交易；Zenimax 还指控 Carmack （其原雇员后为Oculus公司ＣＴＯ）违反了雇佣合同，向Ｏｃｕｌｕｓ 公司透露机密信息，从而协助后者开发出ＶＲ 软件。
除了小扎要出庭接受质询之外，Carmack和 Oculus 公司ＣＥＯ 等人也需要出庭作证。他们将会被问到的问题可能包括：该并购交易的过程、Oculus的ＶＲ 技术是如何发明的、以及Carmack是否违反了其和Zenimax公司之间的雇佣合同相关条款。
在本周二出庭接受询问时，原告律师质问小扎，对这起总金额高达３０亿美元的并购交易， 其法律尽职调查是否在周末的两天左右时间内就完成？小扎回答说是。
不过小扎又强调，其对Carmack是否违反了其和Zenimax公司之间的雇佣合同相关条款这个情况并不知情。
本案于２０１７年１月９日在达拉斯开庭，预计审理过程将长达三周。继民财经汇将继续关注本案的进展
以上是继民财经汇导读，接下来是歌曲欣赏的自由阅读时间，请君随意．．．．．．
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed new details about his 2014 deal to acquire the VR company Oculus during a public appearance in court on Tuesday.
Alex Heath
1/17/2017
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-actually-paid-3-billion-for-oculus-vr-2017-1
Zuckerberg visited the Dallas courtroom to testify in the ongoing lawsuit against Oculus by video game publisher Zenimax, which claims that the Oculus Rift VR headset is partially based on stolen technology.
During his testimony, Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook paid an additional $1 billion for Oculus in employee retention packages and goal targets, according to a court transcript seen by Business Insider.
Facebook said that it paid $2 billion for Oculus when the deal was announced in 2014.
At the center of Zenimax's suit against Facebook is Oculus CTO John Carmack, who previously ran a video game company within Zenimax called id Software and is best known as the mastermind behind video games like "Doom" and "Quake."
Zenimax has accused Oculus executives of knowingly stealing its software and trade secrets through the hiring of Carmack and five of his employees from id Software. It claims that Carmack violated his employee agreement with Zenimax by sharing confidential information that Oculus then used as the basis for its VR software. Additionally, Zenimax has accused Oculus cofounder Palmer Luckey of violating a non-disclosure agreement he signed with the publisher.
While in court on Tuesday, Zuckerberg denied having any knowledge of Carmack or Luckey violating their contracts through his acquisition of Oculus.
Zenimax lawyer Tony Sammi asked the Facebook founder how quickly the deal to buy Oculus was put together, and Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook's legal due diligence into Oculus's business was done over one weekend.
"So your plan for a $2-point-something billion deal was to begin legal diligence on Friday, and sign the deal on Monday, over a weekend, right?” Sammi asked Zuckerberg.
“Yeah,” Zuckerberg replied.
Zenimax is seeking $2 billion in damages against Facebook. Oculus cofounders Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe are scheduled to testify this week.
Mark Zuckerberg will testify in a $2 billion lawsuit that claims the VR startup he bought was based on stolen tech
Alex Heath
1/14/2017
http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-palmer-luckey-to-testify-in-2-billion-zenimax-lawsuit-against-oculus-vr-2017-1
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify in court on Tuesday, January 17 for a potentially explosive lawsuit that claims the Oculus VR startup he acquired for $2 billion was based on stolen technology.
The more than two-year-old suit against Facebook by game maker Zenimax has culminated with a public trial by jury in a Dallas court that began on January 9. Zenimax is seeking $2 billion in damages against Facebook, which is the amount the social networking giant initially paid to buy Oculus in 2014.
Representatives for Zenmiax confirmed to Business Insider that Zuckerberg will take the stand on Tuesday, followed by Oculus cofounder Palmer Luckey later in the week. The trial began on January 9; Oculus CTO and former Zenimax employee John Carmack was the first to testify on January 10.
Facebook tried to argue that Zuckerberg shouldn't have to answer questions about his acquisition of Oculus, but the case's judge overruled the request. Luckey's testimony will be his first public appearance since he that created anti-Hillary Clinton memes in September.
"One of the biggest technology heists ever"
At the center of the lawsuit is Oculus CTO John Carmack, who previously ran a video game company within Zenimax called id Software and is best known as the mastermind behind video games like "Doom" and "Quake."
Zenimax has accused Oculus executives of knowingly stealing its software and trade secrets through the hiring of Carmack and five of his employees from id Software. It claims that Carmack violated his employee agreement with Zenimax by sharing confidential information that Oculus then used as the basis for its VR software.
A lawyer representing Zenimax, Tony Sammi, went so far as to call Facebook's acquisition of Oculus "one of the biggest technology heists ever" during opening remarks to the jury on January 10.
Facebook contends that Zenimax's claims are without merit, and that Zenimax only filed the lawsuit because it passed on investing in Oculus before Facebook bought the company for $2 billion and an additional $800 million in employee retention payouts.
"Oculus and its founders have invested a wealth of time and money in VR because we believe it can fundamentally transform the way people interact and communicate," an Oculus spokesperson told Business Insider. "We're disappointed that another company is using wasteful litigation to attempt to take credit for technology that it did not have the vision, expertise, or patience to build.”
Zuckerberg, Luckey, Iribe, and other key Oculus employees are scheduled to testify during the remainder of the three-week trial. They will be asked about how Facebook came to acquire Oculus, the details of how the Oculus Rift headset was invented, and whether Carmack violated his contract with Zenimax. Prior to these testimonies, most of the case's proceedings have been kept secret and under seal by the court.
Facebook's Zuckerberg questioned at trial over virtual-reality technology
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-zuckerberg-idUSKBN1512GO
| DALLAS
DALLAS Facebook Inc (FB.O) chief executive Mark Zuckerberg took the witness stand in Dallas federal court on Tuesday and denied an allegation by a rival company that the virtual-reality technology of Facebook's Oculus unit was stolen.
Zuckerberg, the founder of one of the world's largest companies, faced hours of tough, public questioning about where Oculus obtained its ideas and how much he knew about the startup when Facebook bought it for $2 billion.
A jury is hearing evidence in a civil lawsuit brought by videogame publisher ZeniMax Media Inc against Oculus in 2014, in the middle of the Facebook-Oculus deal. ZeniMax said that Oculus unlawfully used its intellectual property to develop the virtual-reality system that includes the Rift headset.
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During one heated exchange with ZeniMax lawyer Tony Sammi, Zuckerberg told a jury in the crowded courtroom that the technology was not even fully formed when Facebook bought it.
"Improving on that technology doesn't make it yours," Sammi countered. "If you steal my bike, paint it and put a bell on it, does that make it your bike?"
Zuckerberg, wearing a dark suit and striped tie rather than his typical T-shirt and jeans, answered, "no," but then added: "The idea that Oculus technology is based on someone else's is just wrong."
The 32-year-old Facebook founder has spoken about virtual reality as an important part of the company's future business, especially as the technology becomes less expensive and its uses clearer.
The Oculus acquisition was more expensive than the $2 billion price tag indicated, Zuckerberg said in court, describing $700 million spent to retain employees and $300 million in payouts for reaching milestones. Oculus originally wanted $4 billion, he said.
Sammi questioned whether Facebook knew what it was doing when it made the acquisition. Zuckerberg said the Oculus deal was done over a weekend in 2014, which Sammi said did not show sufficient due diligence. Zuckerberg said, though, in later testimony that Facebook researched Oculus for months.
At the time, Zuckerberg testified, he was not aware of any theft claims against Oculus.
"It's pretty common when you announce a big deal that people just come out of the woodwork and claim they own some part of the deal," Zuckerberg said.
On the stand, he also gave details about Facebook's $22 billion purchase of messaging service WhatsApp in 2014. While the deal was in progress, another company he did not identify made a last-minute bid that was higher, Zuckerberg said, but WhatsApp declined because of its good relationship with Facebook.
The Oculus lawsuit, in the sixth day of a jury trial, relates in part to programmer John Carmack.
Well-known for helping to conceive games such as "Quake" and "Doom," Carmack worked for id Software LLC before that company was acquired by ZeniMax. He is now the chief technology officer at Oculus.
Zuckerberg denied that Carmack has unfairly used computer code from his previous position. "There is no shared code in what we do," he said.
Zuckerberg said he has been interested in virtual reality since he was a student, but thought it was decades away from happening before he encountered Oculus. He told jurors how he used virtual reality to capture his daughter's first steps, so her grandparents could experience it later.
"We want to get closer to this kind of perfect representation, so you can capture a moment you had," he said.
The case is ZeniMax Media Inc et al v. Oculus VR Inc et al, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, No. 3:14-cv-1849.