Chapter 70: Atari, I'll Make You Pay!

Barbara could definitely see Jobs before two in the afternoon.

Or, to put it another way, when Ethan drove his Dino 246 GTS to Jobs' house, recounted his experience, this guy, who was busy making the Apple I, jumped up and wanted to ride his motorcycle to confront Atari.

In his eyes, the pressure from Nolan Bushnell and Don Valentine was nothing less than threatening the lives of his good friends! He wanted these money-hungry people to know that even if he had left the hippie circle, his friends were not to be messed with!

If it weren't for Ethan restraining, pulling, and dragging him, Jobs even suspected that Jobs, this spirited guy, would probably end up in jail today.

However, Jobs' anger turned out to be a good thing for Ethan because, after calming him down and expressing that he needed help, Jobs immediately followed Ethan to Stanford, entered the law school, and met with Barbara, who was waiting there.

Then, Barbara asked, and he answered.

His open and revealing attitude provided Barbara with a lot of information.

For example, Barbara learned that Nolan began selling Atari around the time of the evidentiary stage after filing the lawsuit.

Also, Barbara learned that Disney's offer to Atari was twenty million, while MCA's offer was twenty-two million.

This price seemed unbelievable to Barbara because, from an apparent perspective, Atari was not worth that much.

And when she voiced her doubts and wanted to know why Disney and MCA were willing to offer such high prices to Atari...

Jobs, who had been explaining known facts, stopped and, after a moment of thought, shook his head, saying, "I really don't know about this because my friend just told me that Disney and MCA offered Atari a surprising acquisition price."

"He even asked me if making games is more profitable than making movies."

This answer made Barbara nod slightly, and after looking at Ethan, she smiled at Jobs and said, "Steve, can you help us find out the insider information about the offer? Like, why is MCA willing to bid twenty-two million?"

"Sure." Jobs agreed without hesitation.

But at the same time, he asked, "Is this important?"

"Yes." Barbara, with a serious expression, pointed at Ethan and said, "If we know why Disney and MCA are willing to buy Atari at such a high price, then we can understand the true intentions of Don Valentine and Nolan Bushnell in this case."

"We can also infer what roles they play in this case."

"Okay, I understand." Jobs grasped Barbara's meaning, "I'll go to Los Angeles to find my friend now."

"But this process may take some time, so you may have to wait for a few days."

Jobs' words were quick, but even faster were his actions.

After taking on the responsibility, he immediately left Stanford Law School.

Riding his motorcycle, he rushed towards Los Angeles.

Watching his gradually disappearing figure, Barbara, standing by the window, pursed her lips.

At this moment, she was actually a bit puzzled. "Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"Don't you find this situation a bit strange?"

"Barbara, why do you say that?" Ethan tilted his head to look at her.

"Because—"

Barbara lengthened her voice, seemingly organizing her words but more like carefully choosing her words.

After a pause of about four or five seconds, she, prepared, finally said, "Because he's just an ordinary employee of Atari."

"No background at home."

"So, in this situation, how could he know people from MCA?"

"And in MCA, the person who can deal with multi-million-dollar acquisitions should at least be a vice president, right?"

"And become friends with such a person?"

"He, he, he..."

Saying this, Barbara, who was usually sharp-tongued, suddenly stuttered.

That appearance made Ethan laugh, "Barbara, are you saying he's not worthy?"

This remark made Barbara blink, "As a lawyer, I never attack my client."

"Haha~" This unnecessary emphasis made Ethan burst into laughter.

"Oh, Barbara—"

"Your worry is justified."

"But I trust him."

"Because his name is Steve Jobs."

Ethan's words surprised Barbara.

She didn't know why Ethan had great confidence in Jobs.

And this kind of thing...

Well, Ethan was actually just bluffing.

In reality, when Barbara targeted Atari, looking for Jobs on the way to finding the source of information belonging to Jobs with the help of his memories from his past life...

When this situation arose, Ethan, who temporarily had no solution, could only let Steve Jobs go and ask!

After giving Jobs a lot of expectations, this guy, Jobs, disappeared like evaporating from the earth.

He went to Los Angeles on September 17th at noon, but by the evening of September 18th, he hadn't returned.

This situation puzzled Ethan, and when he asked Woz if he knew Jobs' whereabouts, the chubby guy also said that he hadn't received any calls from Jobs.

This result forced Ethan to continue waiting, and during this process, the media in San Francisco, which had once praised "Snake Game" in the Los Angeles Times, and some television stations in California and New York all reported on the matter.

When the overwhelming news of "Magnavox Sues Atari, 'Snake Game' Might Infringe" appeared, Ethan felt annoyed.

And the concern of Thomas, Linda, Mr. Foster, Chuck Peddle, and others made his patience almost run out.

Because he hated this state of appeasing family and friends while waiting for the final judgment.

"MFxxk, where did this guy go!"

Ethan, who dared not go anywhere, scratched his head.

"If he doesn't come back, at least he could make a phone call, right?"

Restless, Ethan was impatient.

And as he pondered whether he should go to Los Angeles to take a look, late in the evening on that day, a roar entered his ears. Opening the door and taking a look, the guy in black clothes, black pants, and black leather shoes was truly shocking.

"Oh! Fxxk! Why are you dressed like this!"

Ethan remembered that Jobs wasn't dressed like this when he left.

"Enough, these few days have been almost killing me."

Jobs directly parked his motorcycle in Ethan's yard, then went in as if returning to his own home.

Entering the living room, opening the fridge, grabbing a bottle of mineral water, he drank it down.

With his hearty drink, the sudden chill made him shiver, but he didn't care. Instead, he took an envelope from his pocket and waved it in front of Ethan. "First-hand information, want to see?"

"What do you think?" Ethan was too lazy to bother with him, reaching out to grab it.

However, Jobs had anticipated his move long ago and decisively took it back.

'???' Ethan was surprised by this action.

At the same time, Jobs said, "I can give it to you, but you have to promise me one thing."

"What thing?"

"After the matter is over, get me a signed machine of 'Snake Game' for him."

"This is simple. Don't talk about signing one, even if it's signing a hundred, it's fine."

Ethan agreed decisively, reaching out to take it.

This time, Jobs directly let him take the envelope.

Because Ethan

was anxious, he opened it directly.

When the neatly folded white A4 paper was spread out by him, the concise but not simple line of words made his blood boil!

"Atari has been granted the patent 'US3728480 A'."

"WTF!!!"

"What's going on!!!"

Ethan was shocked!

"Where did this information come from!!! Are you sure???"

Ethan looked at Jobs in disbelief.

However, Jobs, with a serious face, nodded and said, "Sure."

"My friend personally told me that this information was told to him by Sidney Simberg."

"How did Atari get this authorization?"

Ethan widened his eyes, his voice trembling, "Is it something before we met?"

"Yes!" Jobs took a deep breath, pointed to the sofa, and said, "I know you're in a hurry, but can we sit down and talk?"

"Sure." Ethan decisively flew to the sofa.

As he clenched his fists, trying to restrain the shock in his heart, Jobs also revealed the insights of this trip.

And this insight...

Made Ethan extremely angry!

Because—

"Ethan, according to my friend, there is a clause in the settlement agreement between Magnavox and Atari for 'Pong'. To ensure that Atari can sell TV games normally, Magnavox and Atari reached the patent authorization of 'US3728480 A'."

"They agreed that for every TV game machine produced by Atari that is available for play, Atari needs to pay Magnavox three percent of the sales as a patent fee, for a period of twenty years, which is the natural expiration period of patent protection in our country."

"When Magnavox signed the agreement with Atari, they didn't find this anomaly, or, to put it another way, this was a settlement intervened by Professor Ralph Baer, so Magnavox did not delve into the terms. But when Magnavox started suing other companies, they found a problem: the authorization time for 'US3728480 A' was too long, and the price was too low."

"Now, when Magnavox is suing other companies, the patent fees they request are at least eight percent of the selling price, with a limited time, normally one year, and at most three years, renewable upon expiration."

"Because Magnavox found that the 'US3728480 A' patent could make them make money effortlessly, they wanted to choke the throat of the TV game industry, making all TV game production companies pay them. And at this time, Atari, which had obtained a long-term and extremely low-cost authorization, possessed the highest quality assets in the entire industry."

"So, when Nolan Bushnell sold Atari, MCA and Disney offered millions. Because they found that this authorization could allow them to develop freely in the game field, without worrying about Magnavox choking them with outrageous prices like other companies."

Jobs looked at Ethan while leaning on the sofa.

In his sight, the current Ethan was already red-faced.

Although Jobs knew that Ethan was extremely angry right now, he still wanted to say the last sentence—

"Ethan, my brother, although you are very angry, there is one thing I must tell you."

"According to my friend, before we met, Nolan Bushnell had already tried to sell the 'US3728480 A' patent authorization as Atari's core asset, even if Atari hadn't reached an agreement with Magnavox. But Nolan Bushnell was also trying to exchange this authorization for help from MCA or Disney."

"My friend said that from the beginning, Nolan Bushnell and the others should have known that 'Snake Game' was infringing."

"They even had a way to avoid this infringement, which was to specify in the authorization contract between you and them that you would give them the representation of the game 'Snake Game' for them to produce, rather than directly leaving the arcade machine in their company."

"But he never told you."

"I don't know the specific reason for this, my friend couldn't say, but this kind of thing shouldn't be difficult to guess, right?"

Jobs opened his mouth slightly, gesturing to Ethan without making a sound.

Although he didn't speak, Ethan had already heard everything—

Copyright!

"MFxxk!!!!!!!"

Ethan roared, directly overturning the small coffee table beside him!

"Damn Atari!!!!!!!"

"I'll make you pay!!!!!!!"