I’m in Hollywood

Due to the network attacks and eavesdropping incidents that occurred in the past few days, the Firefly system has been rearranging various security measures recently, and ensuring the security of email and mobile communications is the two most important things.

Coincidentally, the Japanese company in Canada had just signed a cooperation agreement with the telecom operator spnt, which Firefly invested in, and Kelly recommended the BlackBerry mobile phone of the Japanese company to Eric.

Japan m company released BlackBerry mobile phone with sprite nt's cdma network, just enough to meet the information security and confidentiality requirements of e-mail and mobile communication, Eric decided to promote this mobile phone within the Firefly system.

At the same time, by the way, the acquisition of the Japanese company, which is still in the early stage of development, is naturally a matter of convenience.

BlackBerry phones are also a good fit as a sub-brand of Nokia that focuses on business security.

Compared with Nokia, whose market value has exceeded 100 billion US dollars in recent months, although the recent share price of Japanese company has also risen sharply, its current market value is only more than 260 million US dollars. In any case, buying a Japanese m will be a very good deal.

Moreover, combining the information in his hand and the information in his memory, Eric also found that the situation of the BlackBerry was almost exactly the same as that of the mp3 player.

In the past, these two products already had a very mature technology accumulation before they were promoted on a large scale. However, because of missing the best opportunity for commercial promotion, after many years of frustration, the two products just became popular, and they were quickly squeezed out of the market by brand-new electronic products. MP3 players were eliminated by various types of music phones, and BlackBerrys were eliminated by touch-screen smartphones with richer applications.

Now, Eric can clearly see the market potential of BlackBerry. Then, there is no need to wait for an opportunity such as the 9/11 period when the top U.S. government used BlackBerry phones to receive instant disaster site information. With the powerful channels and resource advantages of the Firefly system, BlackBerry phones can be popularized in advance.

Moreover, if there is more time to complete the layout of BlackBerry phones and related peripheral services, even if the era of smartphones comes, Eric believes that BlackBerry phones, which focus on high-end business and security, will no longer decline as quickly as before.

After taking the document that Mayer handed over and opening it, Eric asked casually, What are the problems?

The most important thing is the patent, Mayer replied. Nokia's evaluation of the BlackBerry phone found that the phone infringed at least 20 of the company's patents. Moreover, the core patent of the BlackBerry mobile phone's wireless email push function also It's not in the hands of JIM, it's owned by a Virginia company called ntp. JIM is still very small and doesn't attract much attention. But if we buy blackberry, then, such as ntp Patent holders like that would certainly file patent lawsuits and possibly even cause a federal ban on BlackBerry phones.

Over the years, Eric has always paid great attention to the patent layout of the companies under the Firefly System. The most important reason is that he was affected by a series of patent wars in his memory. Among them, the wireless mail patent war between Japanese m company and ntp company is undoubtedly the most impressive one.

In 2006, after a six-year tug-of-war litigation, ntp finally claimed a huge amount of patent damages of more than 600 million US dollars from the almost blackmailing of the Japanese company just through a series of wireless mail patents.

Looking at the current market value of Japanese company less than 300 million US dollars, even if history does not change, for Japanese company in 2006, the patent compensation fee of 600 million US dollars is definitely a traumatic blow.

Of course, if you think about it now, the $600 million in compensation must be biased by the federal government.

Although the focus of the Japanese business was in North America, it was still a Canadian company after all, but ntp was an American company. Naturally, the federal government could not target outsiders.

If Japan wants to continue its business in the United States, it can only eat this super dumb loss.

After knocking on the desktop and thinking for a moment, Eric said, Isn't the patent for email in our hands? Yahoo or Firefly Electronics, isn't it related to the research and development of wireless email technology?

Yes, but it's not as comprehensive as ntp. Mayer nodded and continued: Although wireless mail has some technical overlaps with e-mail, it cannot be regarded as a derivative of e-mail technology. The ntp company was established in 1992. The registration time of the other party's patent is almost synchronized with the registration time of the e-mail patent held by Yahoo. I have consulted the patent management departments of Yahoo and Firefly Electronics. They said that according to the degree of technical overlap between the two parties, if a lawsuit is filed, we are confident All wireless mail patent licenses can be obtained free of charge from ntp.

Eric said: But surely it will take time?

Yes, according to the trial process of similar cases, it will take at least a year for us to get the authorization for free. But if Nokia also makes an acquisition of BlackBerry and raises the alarm of ntp, the process will definitely take longer, Mayer said. Having said this, after a pause, he said directly: So, the best way is to acquire. The patents held by ntp have not been widely used, and it only costs about 6 million US dollars to buy this company. Of course, If we're too eager, we'll definitely have to pay a decent premium, maybe $8 million to $10 million.

The acquisition of less than 10 million US dollars is completely insignificant for Eric's current net worth.

However, this matter cannot be measured in this way.

Even if there is no memory of the past, whether to win the patent of ntp company is also crucial for the future layout of BlackBerry mobile phones. Mayer obviously saw this, and only mentioned it in front of Eric.

Then let Nokia buy this company as soon as possible, Eric thought for a while, and quickly made a decision: On the Japanese side, you can slow down a little and wait two or three months.

According to the current explosive trend of the technology stock market, it is estimated that the Nasdaq index can only last for two or three months at most. By then, the technology stocks will plummet across the board, and the Japanese company will definitely not escape the disaster. Initiating an acquisition after that would not only save a considerable amount of money, but it would obviously be easier to succeed.

Mayer nodded and immediately added: It's better to use a shell company to buy ntp.

Eric smiled and said, I sometimes can't think of these details, you can decide for yourself.

Mayer responded, bowing his head and starting to jot it down on a pocket memo.

Eric was sitting at the desk, looking at the girl in the ol suit who was standing opposite to write seriously. Suddenly, he felt emotional and said in a gentle tone: Mary, it's good to have you by my side.

Mayer's writing action paused. Although he didn't raise his head, his face was obviously covered with a layer of ruddy.

Quickly wrote a few more strokes on the memo in the palm of the hand, the female assistant looked up at Eric, turned and left the study.

Four hours later, the Boeing 747 landed at Ventura Airport.

Although it was still work time, Katzenberg came to pick up the plane with Caroline in person.

After the group chatted, they got into the car. Although the two sides had been in close communication during this time, Katzenberg couldn't wait to talk about recent affairs.

There are at least three forces behind the wiretapping incident, but so far only the Tiger Fund has been caught. Ian and I have been discussing the company's security issues recently, including surveillance systems, confidentiality regulations and security. Personnel. Eric, aren't you asking Carter to set up a separate bodyguard team? I just thought, instead of leaving the security of the Firefly system to outsiders, we should do it ourselves and set up a special security company to put all the needs we need All of these businesses are included to serve the entire Firefly system.

Eric listened to Katzenberg's words and noticed that Carter Moen, who was driving in the front row, couldn't help but glanced at the rearview mirror a few times, and said with a smile, Carter, what do you think?

Boss, although I would love to take on this responsibility. But, frankly, if it's going to be big, I might not be able to do it.

Eric nodded and said to Katzenberg who was beside him: Actually, the key to this matter is to find someone who is trustworthy and capable enough, although it is possible to raise the level of this company to a level that directly deals with me personally. The degree of responsibility, but the specific things still have to be done by professional people. The firefly system has too many goals, we blindly look for people, and it is very likely that we will be taken advantage of.”

You can ask the headhunting company to find some candidates first, and we will pick them slowly, Katzenberg said. In any case, this is definitely better than leaving things to outsiders.

That's it, Eric agreed: I'll ask Kelly to come up with a plan first, which departments need to be established, and the budget, etc. If you have any suggestions, you can also tell me directly.

So, Viacom's side, Katzenberg said again after talking about this matter: Eric, what are you going to do?

I've been looking at Viacom Group's financial reports in recent years, and the biggest impression is that Viacom's business map has been expanding rapidly over the years, but the company as a whole is declining. Like Blockbuster , Viacom bought this video tape rental and sales chain for more than 8 billion US dollars, but in just a few years, the market value of this company has shrunk to the current US $ 3 billion. Although the pure video tape industry is growing The home entertainment market, which has been declining rapidly, but has been gradually replaced by DVDs has been expanding rapidly. Last year, the output value of the entire home entertainment market was close to 20 billion US dollars, almost three times that of Hollywood's North American box office. However, Blockbuster's market share It has fallen from 45% at its peak to 25% now. Do you know what the problem is?”

Katzenberg said without thinking, Redstone?

Yes, Redstone, Eric nodded and said, Redstone is too old to keep up with the times. More importantly, he still refuses to delegate power to the managers below, and keeps Viacom All of Mu's power is firmly in his own hands, which is the root of Viacom's decline. In my opinion, Redstone is like a founding king who can conquer and fight well in ancient times. territory, but he does not have enough ability to govern a country, and at the same time he is unwilling to hand over power to those who have the ability to govern the country. Then, the result of this 'country' can only be declining.

Two old men in Hollywood, in Eric's opinion, Murdoch is much stronger than Redstone, which is also the reason why Fox's business is still very good despite the rapid decline of News Corporation's basic print media business.

In comparison, Redstone has completely turned into a headstrong tyrant.

In the original time and space, Paramount had a falling out with Cruise over a Mission Impossible series, and also went to great lengths to make the other party evil. This actually reflects Paramount and even Viacom from another aspect. 's decline.

A Hollywood giant has been reduced to arguing with stars for the benefit of a movie, even if it is an A-list star, it is too cheap. What's even worse is that when you're out of anger, you have to put down your posture and continue to cooperate with the other party.

Katzenberg seemed to understand something, but quickly said: Eric, I know you are very angry about this recent incident, but it is not realistic to want to push Redstone down. Although the Redstone family is not realistic. No absolute ownership of Viacom, but more than half of the voting rights in the company.

I didn't think so, Eric shook his head with a sneer at the corner of his mouth, and said, Think of this scene, an old king guarding his throne with all his might, but can only watch his kingdom collapse step by step, Is it tragic enough, does it feel epic?

Katzenberg felt a tinge of coolness all over his body, and nodded subconsciously: Then what are you going to do?

Eric shook his head: Don't worry, wait until Iron Man is released.

Fighting the enemy is very important, but the most important thing is to save yourself first.

Right now, Iron Man is what Eric is most concerned about. This opening of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is very important to the future movie map of Firefly Pictures. Eric does not plan to do it again at this critical moment. After all, Iron Man will be released in a few days, and some things will only have to wait a week or two at most.

Back at the Sharp Point Manor, it was only after two o'clock in the afternoon here in Los Angeles, and Katzenberg still had work to do, so he left soon after sitting for a while.

The villa still looked empty and deserted. The girl hadn't returned from Australia, but Elizabeth and Julia had already returned, and Eric just received a call from her in the car.

After sending Katzenberg away, Eric returned to the sofa by the glass curtain wall of the villa and sat down, stretching his body casually. A series of incidents have come one after another recently, and Eric still has a deep sense of exhaustion in his heart. At this time, he returned home and looked at the blue sea and blue sky outside the curtain wall, but his mood was much more relaxed.

Caroline and Mayer have not left yet and are helping Eric with his luggage.

After a while, Caroline came over with a pot of coffee, put it down on the coffee table next to Eric, and quietly came over and sat beside him, saying, Eric, my aunt said that she plans to come to Los Angeles next week. .

Eric was a little puzzled: Huh?

Last time, it was in London. A few days after I got home, my aunt suddenly came over and asked something about you.

Eric understood that it was the day he handed the laptop to Olivia, and said, Did she say something happened?

Auntie didn't say, Caroline shook her head and said, She just told me that she would come over next week.

Eric thought for a while, and was a little unclear, so he could only nod and say, I see.