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SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

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Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#81

Post by colejohnson66 »

ajross wrote: post #69
bombcar wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who pays for all the costs associated with this? Can you abuse the legal system to drive a company into bankruptcy by repeatedly subpoenaing them?

People are really (really) misinterpreting this. The OP isn't being sued, they aren't being attacked as a competitor to Meta. (In fact the obvious guess here was that they're being asked to testify in this antitrust case to the fact that their product is successful!) A subpoena is just a demand for testimony. The court wants to "know what you know" so it can make a better decision. Testimony before courts of law is p…

> People are really (really) misinterpreting this. The OP isn't being sued, they aren't being attacked as a competitor to Meta.

The only way to misunderstand this is to not have read the linked page. HN is not immune from headline-only outrage. The first paragraph literally ends with:

> ... in relation to the government's recent injunction against their acquisition of a VR fitness company.

Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#82

Post by colejohnson66 »

aliqot wrote: post #45
georgewsinger wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to clarify: we're seeking legal counsel and intend to comply with the law. Many other larger companies have fought these subpoenas (Snap, etc) and, as far as we can tell, still had to hand over items.

Time to get well-versed in malicious compliance.

Malicious compliance is a good way to get thrown in contempt. Courts aren't stupid.

Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#83

Post by vlunkr »

Bloedcoin wrote: post #61
unnouinceput wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I rather give my money to Satan, or even Google I giggled. When you go from "don't be evil" to this, you know you fucked up big time. This has to be the tagline of the decade in regards to Google ("Google!, the boss of Satan", hi hi hi).

Why? Google still provides android, Google maps, Gmail for free. World changing at it's time still helping people around the globe. Their research blog is fantastic and shows what they value. Google Io focus on people and security and trust. Google is much further away from evil than plenty of other companies. Did they kill stadia? Yes. Did actually anyone care? No. Because stadia didn't matter anyway.

“Free”

They’re probably largely to blame for setting the precedent that Internet services should be free. And of course backed by selling user data or unsustainable venture capital backed business models.

Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#84

Post by kanetw »

cableshaft wrote: post #74
georgewsinger wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We understand Meta sometimes future projects that their devices will have broad office applications, but we're skeptical it has any teeth. Consider that Atari tried to compete with office PCs in the early 80s with their 8-bit family, and failed: https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_596,c_limit,q_... It's hard to focus on multiple things at once, and we're skeptical that the bureaucratic forces in play at a l…

And there are plenty of instances of companies that have gone under when a big parent company decides to incorporate your business as a 'feature' in part of their big monster product. I'm not saying it's going to definitely happen and the company is doomed or anything, it's certainly possible that SimulaVR will come out on top for productivity devices (or peacefully coexist as an alternative alongside Meta's offering…

Of course anything Meta does is a bit worrisome. I just don't think we're in the same niche-- IMO Meta is fundamentally built on data collection, and VR is just a side effect.

Unless Meta decides to abandon that, I think we'll have a niche.

Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#85

Post by sam1r »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #62
Raed667 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mark wants to be able to sell apps and ads on his end-to-end controlled platform, that is it. He missed the boat on browsers and smartphones, so he is aiming for total monopoly of what he believes is the next-big-thing™.

I'm still skeptical that it is The Next Big Thing. I wonder if Zuckerberg suspects it might not be as well but, hey, Hail Mary!

Then again, however, a 100b size company — like meta —inevitably has to go for moonshots when their primary source of revenue is steadily declining.

Seems like he has no choice. Even if it doesn’t work or we’re all skeptical — he better play along and go for it.

Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#86

Post by dylan604 »

Bloedcoin wrote: post #61
unnouinceput wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I rather give my money to Satan, or even Google I giggled. When you go from "don't be evil" to this, you know you fucked up big time. This has to be the tagline of the decade in regards to Google ("Google!, the boss of Satan", hi hi hi).

Why? Google still provides android, Google maps, Gmail for free. World changing at it's time still helping people around the globe. Their research blog is fantastic and shows what they value. Google Io focus on people and security and trust. Google is much further away from evil than plenty of other companies. Did they kill stadia? Yes. Did actually anyone care? No. Because stadia didn't matter anyway.

>Google still provides android, Google maps, Gmail for free. World changing at it's time still helping people around the globe.

That's just the fat, juicy worm dangling on the hook just waiting for you to take it all in--hook, line, and sinker.

Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#87

Post by version_five »

Bloedcoin wrote: post #61
unnouinceput wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I rather give my money to Satan, or even Google I giggled. When you go from "don't be evil" to this, you know you fucked up big time. This has to be the tagline of the decade in regards to Google ("Google!, the boss of Satan", hi hi hi).

Why? Google still provides android, Google maps, Gmail for free. World changing at it's time still helping people around the globe. Their research blog is fantastic and shows what they value. Google Io focus on people and security and trust. Google is much further away from evil than plenty of other companies. Did they kill stadia? Yes. Did actually anyone care? No. Because stadia didn't matter anyway.

> Google still provides android, Google maps, Gmail for free.

Not to belabor a frequently raised discussion topic, but "free" as in gratis is not the same as "zero dollars"

And google charges its customers

Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#89

Post by bombcar »

georgewsinger wrote: post #21
Raed667 wrote: post #9

Can someone explain why is meta entitled to see a 3rd party's business plans, financials and statistics?

Though I'm not a lawyer, I believe defendants in court cases are entitled to command witnesses (signed off by a judge) to provide evidence that could be used in their defense. It makes sense in the abstract: e.g. imagine you're accused of murder, and you know someone saw you somewhere else at the supposed time of the crime, yet they refuse to provide evidence to help you. It would seem reasonable they could compel yo…

Heh, demand that the court provide you immunity from prosecution for being a monopoly, or refuse to testify on the fifth (because you obviously are a monopoly planning on buying Meta).

As you can see, also not a lawyer.

Re: SimulaVR Has Been Subpoenaed by Meta Platforms, Inc

#90

Post by bombcar »

JeezusJuiceTPR wrote: post #34
Raed667 wrote: post #9

Can someone explain why is meta entitled to see a 3rd party's business plans, financials and statistics?

IANAL, so take this with some salt, but I don’t think Meta is directly requesting the documents, and Meta is probably never going to see them. I don’t think they get to request everything and pick through it to find a defense. Subpoenas come from the court (which is how they’re able to be legally binding, i.e. you can be held liable—-in contempt—-for not complying), so my guess is that the court will review the vario…

Documents have to be given to both sides or it's a pretty easy mistrial. It is likely nobody but Meta's lawyers will ever look at any of it, but they will look to try to build a defense.

And if something interesting WAS found, it would get out. And some of these things would become public record, either way.

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