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Comment by joeclark77 | Hacker News Reader

That's not how the legal system works in America. The process is the punishment. The software pirates have $2 million of somebody else's money that they can burn up going through a multi-year process. They will win this thing by forcing the OP to choose between giving up or being bankrupted by court costs. No way you can win. My suggestion would you find an experienced patent troll (er, I mean, intellectual property broker) and offer them a piece of the action if they can help you squeeze as much as possible out of your adversary. They presumably have the capital, skill, and ability to endure the legal process.

Hey, I just discovered a good use for a patent troll!

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I really don't like people who steal software, but so far[1] we have one accusation here. Let's not completely destroy the accused right away based just on this.

[1] It would be unfortunate if this drama played out on HN, he-said she-said style. Although the eventual resolution of this will be very interesting and relevant to developers and entrepreneurs so I expect to read about it here some day.

That's very cool of you, Daniel. While of course I believe my version of events, it is after all just a Hacker News post.

Whether or not I can share the eventual outcome of this matter, I do plan to write an article on concrete steps that developers can take to protect themselves in situations like this.

I don't see how that's a reply to my comment or justifies the downvotes. My comment was about how "the process is the punishment" and that there is not likely to be any justice in a court trial. The other party has $2 million of other people's money and have no incentive not to use it to bankrupt the OP with the legal process. That's a significant challenge and the OP needs a strategy if he wants to win something.

I didn't downvote (nor upvote) you, but the other party absolutely does not want to blow its $2 million on a lawsuit.

The OP's chances of recovery strictly went up when these company got funding. Compared to before, the OP has everything to gain and nothing to lose -- before, he had already written off this project as a bad project. Now, the company that has gotten funding needs to make sure that everything is on the up-and-up.

Assuming OP's story is true, it's entirely in OP's power to say "we won't license the code, FOAD," which would force an expensive and possibly fatal rewrite of the code at this late date. OTOH, with that leverage, OP can name his price. If he demands too much, the VCs might just pull the plug. If the OP's goal is revenge, mission accomplished. But revenge doesn't put food on your family.

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