This was a lawsuit destined to be lost; the defense Osborn made in court was no longer important.
After the first hearing ended, Harry did not offer much of a defense in court, because he knew that saying anything would be useless, and the other side was unlikely to end the trial after just the first hearing.
There would always be a process of further deliberation.
At this point in time, issuing a sky-high fine against the Grady-Fruhl Company sparked a wide range of discussion.
Public opinion was divided, and the decisive question of whether Osborn had infringed on privacy rights was instead hidden within it.
Opponents believed that ctOS had already proven its value during the Battle of New York, while supporters argued that citizen privacy must be guaranteed at all times; this determined whether they were a free United States—after all, life is precious, but freedom is even more so.
The opponents mostly came from New York, while the supporters mostly came from other states, or even other countries.
Interestingly, among the opponents were also the mouthpieces of Osborn's enemies; when discussing the value of ctOS, they took it for granted that Osborn had infringed on citizen privacy.
Large-scale surveillance and the centralized management of urban public facilities remained very sensitive—even if the Aliens had blown up Manhattan, it would be the same.
The spearhead was also intentionally directed at Norman, and other candidates would occasionally make veiled jokes about this on television.
However, they were all blocked by Norman using the nuclear bomb.
During the recess, Agent Wolfe found Harry again.
"So, Mr. Osborn, what is your answer?"
Perhaps because the forces involved in this re-planned trial were becoming more numerous, this senior Agent now had more confidence.
You must know that in the past, such a character would have had to speak to Harry politely.
In short, those people had only one condition: hand over ctOS or withdraw from this market.
Harry didn't speak, just kept looking at the watch on his wrist.
"Sir, I think you should focus on the matter at hand." Wolfe gave a look, signaling his assistant to see if there was any mystery to that watch.
The assistant shook his head; it was just an ordinary watch—if there was anything special about it, maybe it was just very expensive.
"Sir, what are you waiting for?"
"Waiting to get off work. It's 4:30. Sorry, but the company should be getting off work by now."
Harry left the meeting room without another word, not giving Wolfe any face at all.
Wolfe's expression was gloomy.
"Does he still think he has a chance of winning? He..."
Before Wolfe could continue, his assistant covered his mouth: "Boss, are you tired of living? The higher-ups just want to teach Osborn a lesson; it doesn't mean they won't have any cooperation in the future!"
"What if Osborn nods this time, and then demands that you be dealt with later? What will you do then?"
A sulky Wolfe opened his phone.
The next second, the information on the internet made him break out in a cold sweat.
"A former CIA employee, Edward Snowden, has disclosed a large-scale surveillance program known as the Prism Program!"
"This former employee claims that the Five Eyes Alliance has designed a massive surveillance plan, and numerous technology companies are participating in it!"
"According to this employee's revelation, the NSA can access a massive amount of personal chat logs, stored data, voice communications, and file transfer data."
"Everyone is inside the Prism!"
The people of the United States were stunned.
Not only stunned, but also very angry.
Within a few days, the entrance to Washington D.C. was blocked by piles and piles of angry crowds.
"We need freedom! You have no right to monitor us!"
"Resist the tyranny of Washington! The World belongs to the people!"
The masses were satisfied, but Snowden almost didn't make it.
To do this, he had fled to Hong Kong several days in advance.
However, before the disclosure, a group of Agents found him first. The moment they kicked open his door, his heart turned cold.
Just as he was about to die, another group of masked men in black showed up. These men in black had significantly more formidable combat power; even without drawing any weapons, they easily took out these fully armed, gun-wielding Agents.
Snowden asked, "Who are you?"
The few looked at each other, then said, "The American Spirit, kid. Take your things."
"What? What should I do? My family is still..."
Before he could finish, the men in black put him in a sack. After some jolting, when the sack was removed, he found himself already sitting on a plane.
In front of him was a recorded message.
"Welcome aboard this flight to Russia—this is the only country willing to offer you political asylum. Go and finish what you need to do!"
"Rising Tide."
Snowden's expression turned solemn; it turned out that fellow liberals had come to provide him with help.
He must do this job beautifully!
With the help of the Russians and the Rising Tide hackers hidden all over the World, he did indeed do it beautifully, and his video was uploaded all over the World.
"What I want to say is that this program is completely carrying out tyranny in the name of security."
"Information surveillance can indeed make our country safer, but obviously, this program needs to operate in the sunlight. The current U.S. government is not a trustworthy overseer."
"Finally, what surprised me the most is that the currently most hotly discussed ctOS system was not involved in this program at all. For this reason, the NSA orchestrated a conspiracy against the Grady-Fruhl Company; these are all the proofs."
"They forged 343 false identities, such as Malz Toby, Alec Morgan, and Raphael Wendell, to prove that ctOS had stolen their personal information. At the same time, they bribed 34 New York City residents, including Bennett Bapp. These citizens had fallen into a state of unpayable debt after the New York attack, and the FBI took advantage of the situation to offer them a contract. The following is the list of personnel and detailed information."
This list arrived at such a coincidental time, right on the day of the second trial. The procedure was no longer important; the problem now was that the evidence they were going to present had all been exposed by the Prism Program, and there was absolutely no time to find people to modify the testimonies and evidence.
Outside the court, it was already packed with angry United States citizens. The leader was even wearing an exoskeleton, holding a giant placard that read:
"Osborn is innocent! The NSA is guilty!"
In the courtroom, there was pin-drop silence.
Harry looked at the officials sitting here with a half-smile. The battlefield for this trial was actually not here, but outside the courtroom.
If this hadn't happened, today would have been the day the verdict was announced.
Five minutes ago, the judge declared the session open, but everyone didn't know what to say.
A big company and big capital will also have enemies. In fact, The capital Group is like a hungry shark wandering in the sea; wherever there is the smell of blood, it will go up and take a few bites.
Osborn is not weak, but it has many enemies, which is why this absurd trial happened.
Whether it's capital or the United States, they both need people to consume and labor. The purpose of this trial was to gradually manipulate public opinion using court verdicts, but unfortunately, foreign forces overturned their little schemes.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Harry said. "The evidence you presented last time was clearly insufficient to convict the company under my name."
The evidence released during the first trial was even more of an intimidation; this was why Wolfe had sought out Harry again during the recess.
However, for the second trial, they couldn't use that evidence anymore. They really wanted to slap themselves: Why didn't they just announce the verdict? At least they could have made some money.
The forged evidence had all been completely exposed by Snowden. Of course, they could continue to bite the bullet and call a stag a horse, but public opinion is not something that is easily coordinated.
The NSA suspected that Osborn had tampered with the leak incident, but they didn't have a shred of evidence, nor did they even receive a single sign.
The current situation became "Heaven blesses Osborn"; their rhythm had been disrupted.
The judge looked at the two sides below the bench. As one of the three branches of power, when it was time to turn, they would turn; the facade of justice could not be lost.
The gavel struck.
"Insufficient evidence, the defendant is not guilty!"
-------------------------------
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