Why is Fujitsu so nervous when they hear about the arrest of Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric?

That's because Fujitsu's compatible machines are also a little bit related to some of IBM's technologies.

In the sixties and seventies, the global computer market was basically concentrated in the business field.

At that time, there was no concept of a personal computer, let alone a related microcomputer market.

However, although the development of computers has been slow, it has been widely used in the business field.

Among them, IBM's mainframe accounts for more than 70% of the global market.

The so-called mainframe, in layman's terms, means that the company shares a server and a storage system.

Then, the employees of the enterprise summarize the data or information that the company needs to process to the large server for analysis through their own operation ports.

This is similar to a local area network, except that the computer operated by the employee does not have the processing function, it is just an input port.

All the data is aggregated to the mainframe server, which is then processed centrally.

This system is the mainframe, which to some extent replaces the requirement of one computer per employee.

From the perspective of the company's cost of use, the cost of a mainframe is much cheaper than that of N PCs.

Therefore, the application range of mainframes in the business field is very wide, especially for banks, insurance companies, airlines, railway systems, government agencies and other enterprises that require a large number of calculations, and they are the largest customers of mainframes.

Since the demand is high and the prospects are extensive, it is not an accident that Xiaori can play traditional arts.

Since the 70s, Neon has been learning from IBM under the organization of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

What to learn? IBM's mainframe manufacturing, of course.

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has brought together six domestic computer companies to provide them with a large amount of R&D funding and policy support.

And the six clubs were divided into three groups, and targeted learning began for different mainframe companies in the United States.

Among them, Hitachi and Mitsubishi are in a group, and the object of their study is IBM.

Fujitsu and Sharp are in a group, and their learning object is Amdahl in the United States.

This company is IBM's biggest competitor, and Fujitsu has even been trying to find a way to take a stake in Amdahl in order to pursue its computer technology.

The companies that have been organized by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) are engaged in reverse engineering in addition to making use of their traditional performing arts.

Another way to develop a mainframe is to get involved in the production details of the mainframe through IBM's foundry in Japan.

After more than a decade of hard work, 70% of IBM's global mainframe market has now been reduced to about 50%, with the support of the neon government.

And the biggest beneficiaries of this are Hitachi and Fujitsu, which are Neon's largest mainframe manufacturers.

However, in recent years, as IBM's technology has been upgraded, it has become increasingly difficult for Hitachi and Fujitsu to copy their mainframes.

The mainframe is not only a hardware design, it is also an organic whole that combines hardware and software.

Mainframes must use software packages, build systems, and operating systems that are tailored specifically for them to run smoothly.

It's a very closed ecosystem, with only hardware and no software, and Hitachi and Fujitsu are just as blind as the compatible machines they produce.

However, it is precisely because of this closed nature that the mainframe has characteristics such as high reliability and high security, which are trusted by enterprises.

The cheapest mainframes start at $200,000, and the profits for this high value-added product are certainly not low.

So even if they encounter some difficulties, Hitachi will not give up this part of the profits.

Just like IBM's new 3081K mainframe last year, the processor architecture and compilation system have all been upgraded, and the security has been greatly improved.

And Hitachi, which has been using IBM mainframes as prototypes and making compatible machines, is in a hurry.

Unable to crack its compilation system and processor architecture, it would take Hitachi about 3 years to produce its own compatible machine by itself.

For such a long time, IBM's mainframes have been iterated two or three times.

Therefore, Hitachi and Mitsubishi will only get the first ten volumes of technical data of IBM's 3081K mainframe by chance.

And because there are only half of them, the internal is eager to launch the compatible model corresponding to IBM.

Hitachi and Mitsubishi took the risk of using IBM's internal connections to steal the rest of the technical data.

The director of the Kanagawa factory easily believed that the FBI fishing staff was because he urgently needed the remaining information from IBM to develop his own compatible machine.

And Hitachi and Mitsubishi, who were in a hurry, were also jointly set up by IBM and FBI and caught all the stolen goods.

As a member of the Learning Alliance, Fujitsu was nervous when he heard the news here.

It stands to reason that Fujitsu and Sharp are studying with Amdahl, and it seems that they have nothing to do with IBM.

But I know my own business, Fujitsu's compatible machine is also a lot of reference to IBM in the design.

Not to mention the hardware, even a lot of software is imitating IBM's design.

Matsuka knows that the processor architecture of his mainframe is somewhat similar to IBM's.

And Ryuji Tokita is also very clear that many interfaces on Fujitsu's compatible machines are common to IBM.

The reason why a compatible machine is called a compatible machine is that it can be seamlessly integrated with IBM's mainframe in terms of operating system and software.

If only it was compatible, but unfortunately, Fujitsu did all of this without authorization from IBM.

Their operating system and software are nominally in-house, but many of the kernels are derived from IBM's design.

Now IBM has directly taken a ruthless hand and joined forces with the FBI to send Hitachi and Mitsubishi to prison.

The nature of this completely changed, as the newspaper said, this is a case of commercial espionage, this is a crime!

Even more exaggerated, IBM is preparing to initiate an international accountability process.

And the FBI has already issued an arrest warrant in Neon China, and none of the directors of the Hitachi Kanagawa factory who participated in the behind-the-scenes transactions can escape.

The FBI is so domineering, arresting people on a small day is like arresting people at home.

And Matsuka and Tokita Ryuji were scared by IBM because Fujitsu's own ass was not clean.

But even so, Shirakawa Kaede still didn't understand the reason why Fujitsu had urgently notified him to come here.

"Mazuka-san, since Fujitsu has nothing to do with this commercial espionage case, why are the two of you so nervous?

What is the so-called matter of letting the contemptible person come over so urgently? ”

Faced with Shirakawa Kaede's question, Mazuka considered it for a long time before opening his mouth with an embarrassed face.

"Shirakawa-san didn't know that some of the design inspiration for Fujitsu's compatible machines came from IBM.

According to internal sources, IBM is conducting a thorough investigation of all compatible machines on the market, especially Neon here.

If certain infringements are discovered, it can be troublesome. ”

Shirakawa Kaede probably understood, IBM began to settle accounts after the fall, and the six members of the neon study group were a little flustered.

In the past, the most infringement was lawsuits and ruffles, and they have experienced too many such things.

In the case of the neon government's calves, it is normal for a multinational lawsuit to be fought for several years.

Therefore, Fujitsu did not care much about the so-called infringement before.

It's a big deal that due to the pressure of the United States, I signed an agreement in private, and it was over with a compensation, and I didn't even need to bow.

But this time it is different, this time Hitachi's case was characterized as commercial espionage, which is against the law and must be serious.

In particular, Hitachi and Mitsubishi's liaison in the United States have been arrested and will not stop, and now they are starting a cross-border manhunt procedure.

None of the senior executives such as Hitachi senior engineers and the director of the Kanagawa plant who had participated in the previous period could run away.

This is more scary, and it is no joke to go to a prison in the United States.

As the direct executives of Fujitsu's related businesses, Matsuka and Ryuji Tokita are now in a cold sweat several times.

After all, in Fujitsu's study group, the main person in charge is the two of them.

One is responsible for the hardware architecture and the other is responsible for the software design. If IBM wants to use this incident to expand the scope of the attack, it is difficult to really catch up with them.

Because Hitachi and Fujitsu will not go out of business, but employees will be arrested for breaking the law.

So it's understandable that Mazuka Daoyi and Tokita Ryuji are so panicked.

Shirakawa Kaede nodded, probably understanding the Tao in it.

Sure enough, there is no sovereignty and a small day of loss, and there is no room to fight back when the master cleans it up, so it is slaughtered by others.

"Don't worry, if Fujitsu is really not involved in this matter, only part of the design refers to IBM.

Then the two of you can rest assured that the most that the dispute between Fujitsu and IBM is a software licensing dispute, which can be resolved by economic means. ”

If the software is infringing, lose money and it's over.

Even if Fujitsu can take the initiative to communicate with IBM about the licensing issue, then this matter may not even make a splash.

And after listening to Shirakawa Kaede's comfort, Matsuka Daoyi immediately waved his hand.

"Of course, Fujitsu was not involved in this matter, and everything was a misunderstanding. Who knew that software also has copyright? ”

Yes, the computer industry is just developing. At this time, in the eyes of neon people, there is no concept of software copyright at all.

After the IBM espionage case, the general public realized that software also has copyright.

It's a reckless era, and everything is growing wildly.

Later generations attached great importance to copyright and severely cracked down on piracy, also because they stepped on countless thunders in the process of development.

Growth is always accompanied by labor pains, which is a problem that will be encountered in the development of any country.

But... After eating the melon, Shirakawa Kaede thought about the purpose of his coming here again.

"By the way, Mazuka-san and Tokita-san, the two of you haven't said that this matter has anything to do with contemptible people?"

I'm not involved in your compatible phone business, so you can't find me.

Matsuka and Tokita Ryuji glanced at each other, their faces a little hesitant.

In the end, Matsuka Daoyi, who had relatively more contact with Shirakawa Kaede, opened his mouth and explained the reason for the incident.

"As a result of this incident, IBM is applying to inspect the design of all of Hitachi's computer businesses.

This includes, but is not limited to, compatible phones, and most likely personal computers. ”

Reviewing the design of the computer? Shirakawa Kaede's eyes widened, this request was a bit excessive.

It's roughly equivalent to showing your own software and hardware design, inside and out, to others, without reservation.

There are no trade secrets to speak of, and even their own cutting-edge technology will be learned by others.

Suddenly, Shirakawa Kaede was startled. "Fujitsu here...?"

"It's just that there are rumors, rumors..."Matsuka Daoyi began to wipe his sweat again.

Although the other party tried his best to explain, Shirakawa Kaede's face had already sunk.

(End of chapter)