In U.S. civil litigation, the parties can settle out of court or in front of a judge at any time during the proceedings. The U.S. Federal Code of Civil Procedure facilitates the settlement of litigation through two main provisions. The first is the provision of Article 16 of the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended in 1983. According to this provision, the judge may, at his or her discretion, order the parties' lawyers or the parties themselves without representation to attend one or more pretrial conferences in order to facilitate the settlement of the case. More than 90 per cent of civil cases are settled at this stage, and less than 10 per cent actually go to the facts.

After communicating with Anderson's lawyer, Linda went back to explain the case to Zach.

"Zach, I consulted with Uncle Anderson, and he suggested that we settle out of court to deal with this lawsuit," Linda said.

"Is the school intranet willing to accept it?"

"The school network sued us because they had their purpose, and that purpose didn't necessarily mean that Facebook had to be shut down, we could talk to them again," Linda said.

"But yesterday you also saw the attitude of Tang's article in the school intranet, and he decided that we plagiarized the school intranet, and we had to kill us," Zach said.

"Zach, it doesn't have to be like that. Yesterday, Uncle Anderson also gave us an analysis that if the school intranet, as a Celestial Empire company, wants to achieve greater development in the United States, their style must not be so domineering, and they must consider the ideas of local investors and competitors," Linda said.

"What do you mean, I don't understand, why do they think about the ideas of investors and rivals?", Zach said, a little confused.

"Zach, think about it, if one day, all the American people are using Facebook, then Facebook must have this large amount of communication and exchange information of the American people, and if Facebook falls, then it must be replaced by the intranet, do you think the FBI guys would be willing to let a Celestial website have this information?", Linda said.

"What if you are willing, what if you are unwilling, does it have anything to do with us?", Zach still didn't understand what Linda meant, and asked suspiciously.

"If the founder of the school intranet had been a smart person, he wouldn't have wiped out Facebook, he would have thought about how to buy and merge Facebook, and he would have hid behind his back so that everyone wouldn't feel like he was using a Celestial website," Linda said.

"You're saying that the school is suing us and trying to annex us? No, I'm not going to sell Facebook, what's the difference between that and shutting it down?"

"It doesn't have to be a merger, maybe it's just a percentage of the shares, we can talk to them," Linda said.

"It's not completely unthinkable if it's just a shareholding, but I can't tolerate losing control of Facebook, and it has to go the way I want it to," Zach said.

"I know, let's talk to them again, I'll call Uncle Anderson to come with us," Linda said.

……

When Tang Wenwen met Zach again in the conference room of the Scott Law Firm, Zack's momentum was obviously much weaker, and he had already admitted defeat in his heart.

"I don't know what Mr. Zach is talking about today, but if I want to continue to discuss whether Facebook has plagiarized the intranet, I don't think we should waste everyone's time," Tang said.

When Zack heard Tang's words, his face immediately changed, and Linda felt that she reached out and held Zack's hand, signaling him to calm down.

"Mr. Tang, I think the general manager of your company didn't just come to mock us when he arranged for you to come to the United States," Linda said.

"Hehe, I don't mean to mock anyone, I'm just talking about things, I don't want to waste everyone's time," Tang said.

"Does Mr. Tang think that without Facebook, the school intranet can monopolize the U.S. market?" said Linda.

"Are there any other competitors?", Tang said with a smile.

"On the contrary, because there are no other competitors, it is more difficult for the intranet to capture the US market," Linda said.

"Well, it's the first time I've heard of a company that can't capture the market because it doesn't have a competitor. According to your argument, does Boeing have to make great efforts to support Airbus? Otherwise, it will not be able to occupy the market without its rivals," Tang Wenwen said with a sarcastic smile.

"Mr. Tang, you have to realize that Internet companies are different from the real industry, I don't know if you have ever thought about it, even without Facebook, will you be able to occupy the American market? Will the U.S. government let a company like the Red Celestial Empire on the campus have all kinds of information about users across the country?" said Linda.

"What's the matter, your company can't play the intranet of the school, so it's starting to make tricks?", Tang Wenwen said expressionlessly.

In fact, what Linda said was like talking about Tang Wenwen and Jiang Hui in the phone communication last night, the U.S. government will not let the Celestial Empire, a wholly-owned enterprise of the Celestial Empire, hold the data of so many users, even if the intranet agrees to place the servers of American users in the United States. Just think about what happened to communication companies such as Warwick and Zhongxin in the future, it's too simple to deduct you from a few trumped-up charges, and you don't want to play casually.

"Our company wants to be able to reach an out-of-court settlement with the intranet of the school, and only win-win cooperation is the way to survive, and fearless struggle is not good for anyone," said Linda.

"How does Facebook want to work with the school's intranet?" said Tang.

"We are open to cross-shareholding with the North American branch of the school," said Linda.

The North American branch of the school intranet doesn't even have a shadow yet, but Linda mentioned it, at least it shows that they see the facts clearly. The intranet now has more than 6 million users worldwide, more than 20 times the size of Facebook, and if Linda proposes to cross-stake shares with the intranet, it can only be said that there is no sincerity in reconciliation.

"I think both Zach and our school intranet have a deep understanding of the survival of campus SNS sites, and although this market is huge, it is so small that it can't even accommodate two companies," Tang said.

"So what do you want? Facebook won't accept being acquired," Zach chimed in.

"We have no intention of acquiring Facebook 100 percent, and we at Mr. Jiang also value Mr. Zack's vision and ability, and if we buy Facebook, this website will still be managed by Mr. Zack," Tang said.

"We're not going to buy it, and we're going to have a stake in the school at most," Zach said.

"What if we want 80 percent of the shares?", Tang said.

"No, what's the difference between that and a complete buyout, I can't accept a 49 percent stake in the school's intranet," Zach said.