They Said It Would Be Easy (April Book 7)

by Mackey Chandler

  "I'm not very majestic, and I'd prefer acts of honor over empty platitudes. You're not my subject to call me your Lady, so Heather, Miss Anderson, or plain old you is sufficient."

  "Thank you. Miss Anderson, I am trying to ascertain if I can reasonably bring an action before you. Have you adapted any Earth law? Do you recognize any body of case law as applying to your domain?"

  "You have no special status here as a lawyer, but I'd accept anyone speaking for another who is uncomfortable presenting their own case. We however have no body of law about things like client-attorney privilege. So you should be very cautious about assuming such things exist here. You may assume I cherish the very basics of any legal code. Don't lie. Don't murder. Don't steal. I don't intend to deal with thought crimes," Heather revealed. "I have no idea if you are coveting your neighbor's goods in your heart. I'm only concerned with if you try to make them portable and take possession of them against his will.

  "You should know however that I find a great deal of Earth law overreaching that way. I will allow people to establish customs. To do otherwise is to fight human nature. You have to accept a certain level of customary behavior to fit in a tribe. If you can't do that you will be encouraged to go elsewhere. Home is in a similar situation to us, and they have found you have to allow custom to exist or it leads to conflict."

  "Oh, does Central have the duel also?" Hans asked.

  That was a perceptive question. "I haven't ruled yet," Heather said, smiling. "I believe it keeps my supplicants on their toes, since if I get a pair that can't be satisfied and are completely unreasonable, I can still tell them to find their own solution on the field of honor. I'd rather not encourage them to adapt it for trivial disputes."

  Hannes frowned until he had creases between his eyes. "Then I can present a complaint as a foreigner, if, as your lady said," he nodded at Dakota, "I accept your decision as binding?"

  "Yes. Are you sure you have the authority to do so for your clients?" Heather asked.

  "I do. We have no other jurisdiction in which to reasonably pursue this," Hannes admitted.

  "Then I hardly see how you can be worse off than taking my ruling," Heather pointed out. "Unless you fear I am a crazy lady, and may impose a totally irrational judgment, such as imposing damages on the party wronged, or act against you personally from prejudice."

  "No, you are young, but you seem quite stable," Hannes allowed bluntly. "One last question. I was not aware of your public records and have not reviewed your previous decisions. You denounced stealing...Have you had opportunity to establish any intellectual property law yet?"

  "No. We do not have a patent or copyright system yet. No one has requested them. My feeling is the present system on Earth is broken. I know China essentially ignores patent and copyright. I think some abuses of patent law I've read about – such as trying to register patents to cover wide ranges of devices – patent carpet bombing - are reprehensible. I also think the use of Life Extension Therapy is going to make changes necessary. We may have to move to a system that looks at maintaining rights by active use instead of arbitrary years. Especially for things like video compositions and books. That is already happening effectively, since Mickey Mouse has been kept from the public domain by repeated legislation, but it should be available to everyone who doesn't find buying a legislature a trivial expense. If I do issue patents it will likely be by royal decree. So you can expect they would be few in number and large in scope."

  Hannes took a deep breath, and obviously had to steel himself on the matter. "In that case I wish to present a complaint, and will accept your judgment on it."

  "I appreciate your confidence. State your case in plain English please. No need of legal terms if they are not uniquely descriptive," Heather said.

  "My clients have a software development firm, Greennote Ltd. They've created several packages including GreenLeaf, a program for artistic composition and graphic manipulation. They are registered for protection in most jurisdictions. A person we believe to be one of your subjects has set up a distribution system for what is essentially the same program with the title altered to GreenLeaves. Other than the Title bars and some banners the code is the same, and totally plagiarized from our product. He uses paid servers in Earth nations with lax laws about such things, but the money flows here. We seek to stop this from continuing, an injunction if I may use that expression, and to recover damages."

  "You have a name for this person?" Heather asked.

  "The payments are made to Bruce Coyle," Hannes said. "If that is a real person or a name of convenience I can't say. But there is an account in that name at the Royal Solar Trade Bank at Central. We are also fairly certain he is the person known in the computer community as 'Black Coyote'."

  Heather lifted an inquiring eyebrow to Dakota.

  "He works in food service," Dakota read off her pad. "He's from Armstrong, but not from our original group. He came later." She tapped her pad. "He's at work now. He takes Mondays off."

  "Call him here, they can prep lunch without him or call somebody in," Heather ordered.

  "Done. Figure ten minutes if he uses the bathroom and changes his shirt," Dakota said.

  "How much of a loss has this plagiarized software been?" Heather asked Hannes.

  "It can only be estimated. Our sales were down sharply within a few days of his offering. They were twenty million EuroMarks lower that quarter. Sales of software are down worldwide this quarter too, but some is a bad business climate and some is what he has siphoned off. But there are also sales made at his price that never would have been made at full price," Hannes admitted. "Mr. Coyle is selling at about one quarter full retail price, so we'd expect he made something like five million EuroMarks. Do you have the ability to demand a forensic audit of his accounts?"

  Heather looked at him sharply. "I'm sovereign. I can confiscate his accounts and toss him out the airlock in his underwear if it pleases me. The bank is chartered at Central at my pleasure. But one does such things with some discretion or you have terrified subjects. I have had an interest in the bank since before Central was ever established, but it doesn't knowingly handle illicit funds. He hasn't bribed me if that concerns you."

  "I didn't mean to imply that at all. I'm sorry, I'm used to the few royals left in Europe. They are pretty much powerless now, and entirely subject to their national legislatures. They cut ribbons and mark holidays, but they don't really rule or decree much of anything," Hannes said.

  "Bloody national mascots," Heather said, without apology. "Have a seat and yield the carpet for Mr. Coyle."

  Bruce hadn't bothered to change shirts. Lunch was obviously going to involve something with tomatoes. He looked chipper and not concerned. He stepped to the carpet without being asked and nodded at Heather, silent, but not at all hostile.

  "Mr. Coyle, this is Hannes Lueger from Earth. He has entered a complaint before me and chooses as a foreigner to accept my decision. He accuses you of pirating his client's GreenLeaf software and selling it. Specifically that you have altered the name and some of the interface, but left the code almost in its entirety. Would you care to respond to his accusations?" Heather invited.

  "Yeah, I've been doing that almost a half year," Bruce readily admitted. "That's why I came over from Armstrong. They're under the USNA and have all these stupid treaties. I knew it wasn't illegal here so I took a job to get residence, but I run my business on the side. It really doesn't take that much time once you set it up." He showed not a trace of embarrassment.

  "I'm surprised you bother to retain your cafeteria job when you could live well off your software, uh...'business'," Heather said tactfully. "Mr. Lueger indicated it is was substantial sum of money."

  "Well yeah, I guess I could have. But the people in the cafeteria are really nice, and when I got the first transfer from my Earth bank to the System Bank I really intended to just celebrate a bit and then quit when I came back off leave," Bruce admitted.

  "But you didn't..." Heather surm
ised, still unsure where he was going.

  "I would have, but I had four days off and went to Camelot. They treat you like a king if you walk in and say sell me ten Solars of chips for a starter. They comp you a room and all you want to eat and drink is on the house. It's the most fun I've ever had. I had a whole mob partying with me after a couple days. But I was busted dead broke when I got back. Since I bunk in company cubic and can eat at work it was much easier to just report back to my job. In fact I don't know what I'd have done without it."

  Hannes gave Heather a terrified, but very questioning look.

  "Camelot is the previous Chinese moon base. Their principle business at the moment is a very high end casino," Heather informed him. He just planted his face in both hands with a little moan.

  "So you blew how much?" Heather asked, amazed.

  "Well, the first transfer was seven million something. I have to pay for stuff too you know," Bruce told them. "They charge for server space and taking credit. The miserable EuroMarks are perishable now. They actually tick down in value, so you have to spend them fast or pay again to change them to something else. But somewhere along the line I got a credit card from the casino. I was drinking a bit and don't exactly remember it all very well. But they were really nice. I remember I was actually up a few million at one point, but by the time I came home I was a couple Solars in the hole on the card."

  "They let a kitchen helper put a couple Solars on a credit card?" Heather asked.

  "Hey, I'm a prep cook already. I didn't stay a scullery hand a week. But when they asked what I do at the casino I just said I'm in software. Since I bought ten Solars of chips cash and some more later, they didn't seem interested in the details. They offered their own house card easily. When I was back home and sober I had a call from them about making payments on the card, but I told them I'd be back in two weeks and win that back and a chunk more. They said that was fine and not another word about payments. They said they'd reserve me a comped room. Are they a class act or what?" Bruce asked.

  Heather was too stunned to say what...

  "So, did you win it back?" Hannes asked, hopefully. Heather wasn't offended he didn't ask permission to speak. It was her next question too.

  "No, but the second trip I came home with only a half Solar on the card," Bruce said with pride. "I'm getting better at it, but this third trip I'm down just a little. Just another half Solar, but I can see what I'm doing wrong now. I'll be in the black next time."

  "Allow me to introduce a radical thought," Heather said gently. "Do you have sufficient funds just to pay them off and be done with them?"

  "Yeah, but I want to get some back," Bruce insisted.

  Hannes and Heather looked at each other. Bruce seemed oblivious to the byplay.

  "Let me take another tack," Heather decided. "Are you one of those people who feel that information wants to be free, and everything should be open and shared? What is your motivation?"

  "Nah, information isn't aware," Bruce said, looking at Heather like she was the odd one. "Maybe what I did isn't exactly right, but all these rich people, the big corporations and the governments, they're all the same. They keep a tight grip on anything that can make some money and exclude the little guy. There's no way left to get ahead. You think they care about patents and copyright? The ones with the best lawyers and enough money to buy the politicians decide whose patents are valid. I've been working for them since I got out of school and had nothing to show for it. I just wanted a little back. There isn't any law against it here, is there?" he demanded.

  "No, in fairness there is no law against it here, yet. We've been very economical with creating laws." Heather looked anxious and struggled with her thoughts. "Perhaps a different example...I have not yet formalized a law against murder either. Would you feel that gave you some leeway to kill somebody who you find offensive or inconvenient?"

  "I don't want to kill anybody. I get along with people," Bruce objected.

  "You are evading me," Heather accused. "You aren't getting along with Mr. Lueger here, or his clients. In fact you are quite the inconvenience to him. Perhaps he should just kill you if it isn't illegal here. If all that matters are formal rules and laws, and no right or wrong. What do you think?"

  "This is one of those questions like my mom and teachers always asked me," Bruce complained. "They really just wanted me to agree, and didn't really want to hear the answer if I didn't. But the rules always seem to be biased to the other big wheel's advantage."

  "I am more sympathetic to that than you might imagine," Heather allowed, which made Hannes look worried.

  "In some things, like patents for drugs, and governments keeping secret patents, I believe they can be abused to people's harm. Certainly if the public has paid with taxes for the research to develop something, then it is a betrayal to funnel the profits to private hands," Heather explained. "But this wasn't a life-saving drug kept way over priced, or a revolutionary civilization altering invention kept secret and suppressed. You took a software program that is used for artistic expression. Nobody will die without it and from what I understand it is cheap enough people frequently use it for their amusement rather than employment.

  "If Mr. Lueger's clients were price gouging people, they can simply not buy this program. It's self-solving by market forces. I'm pretty sure there must be competing programs at other price points. Yet it does support a group of people who produce it and maintain it. That's not bad. If you wanted to produce something similar to compete with it I'd be open to extending the umbrella of protection by my law to you, to keep your rights to it. None of my subjects have brought such a request yet. I have my doubts you are capable of producing something equal to what you've stolen."

  Bruce flinched at the word stolen.

  "I'll tell you a story," Heather said. "The first day, when Central was established, was a day of battle. We were sitting in our armed rover waiting to kill men chasing after refugees fleeing to us. We were guessing when their rovers would appear on the horizon so we could direct artillery fire on them. In the midst of this two of my subjects bet on when they would appear. Unfortunately their lights showed up within two seconds at most of the chosen time. When they appeared ready to argue over who won, I came very close to banning all gambling within my sovereign territory. The only reason I still don't prohibit it is that prohibitions are generally counterproductive. Even if something is self-harming, banning it just makes the situation worse. It drives behavior underground and just adds the allure of it being forbidden.

  "Perhaps in theory it doesn't have to be divisive and trouble rousing, but it always seems to work that way. I am inclined to think that the friendly bet is a fantasy. Betting is adversarial. If you don't pay the people at Camelot they will get ugly with you. And yet you seem to think of them as friends. If you had earned that money through your own talents I'd wager you wouldn't have thrown it away so easily."

  Heather stopped and glowered at Bruce. For once he was smart enough to keep silent.

  "I've really heard enough to make a decision. If either of you wish to add something vital you think I have missed you may speak, but be warned it may harm your standing as easily as help it."

  Neither of them spoke. Bruce actually shook his head a quick no.

  "I find Mr. Lueger's clients were wronged and harmed financially. I find Central was wronged and harmed in our reputation. We are not going to be a haven for criminal behavior. I find that Bruce by his own word knew what he was doing was not right. He is directed to terminate his operations quickly.

  "I believe the loss to your clients has not been so severe they are in danger of going out of business. Is that correct?" Heather asked Hannes.

  "No, most people won't buy from a pirate source. But enough have to cost the company a great deal of money, and the company stock has had a loss we attribute to this diversion of sales."

  Heather nodded. "I find thus: Mr. Coyle is directed to pay off his gambling debt. Any funds he has left over will be d
irected back to Greennote Ltd. as a judgment. I shall require a report that all this was done from your bank. You may retain up to the value of a half Solar because nobody should be stripped bare, and you have had the good sense to retain gainful employment as a basis for your future.

  "If I strip Mr. Coyle broke and require him to repay you, it will basically enslave him in perpetuity. Especially since in the off Earth community the cost of money is higher than on Earth. He'd never catch up and repay principal if he could borrow it. More likely he'd owe a small amount from each pay for life. I feel enslaving him will cause more harm to our community in the long run than the value of the small payment stream to your clients," she explained. "I don't wish to deal in revenge."

  Hannes just nodded his understanding.

  "I direct, Mr. Coyle, that if you return to Camelot for the purpose of gambling you are banished from Central and may not return, ever. I could lecture about addictive behaviors and such, but you have an obsession, and it would take more persuasion than I possess to make the smallest chip in that. You are in a state of probation in my mind, and advised if you come before me with any questionable behavior again I am prepared to be very harsh. Do not mistake my mercy as license to be anything but squeaky clean in the future," Heather said, peering straight at him. He didn't react.

  "If you find that too difficult you would be better off to leave Central on your own," she suggested. "You are only a resident, not sworn to me. I am refraining from expelling you, but not by much."

  He nodded agreement since she seemed to want a response.

  "I'm sorry it is not within my ability to make you whole, Mr. Lueger. If I were to require them to return the monies lost by Mr. Coyle it would be one more injustice on top of others. A casino cannot reasonably be expected to inquire or pass judgment on the sources of a customer's cash. So there was no criminal intent for them to let him play. However I have stopped the harm.

  "Not that it likely matters to you, but I am unhappy to have Central associated with a casino operation. I can make all the arguments for both sides, that it is voluntary, and reasonable people don't bet more than they can afford to lose. Yet I see it preys on certain addictive personalities and the harm can reach to those who did not volunteer to play. If Mr. Coyle was foolish in dealing with them, fleecing fools is still a sad business model. One is not obligated to instruct the foolish, or shelter them from harm, but it is hardly noble to systematically profit from their defect.