In what may be one of the most shocking revelations in tech history, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be testifying in court on Tuesday, Jan. 17, for a lawsuit that alleges that the Oculus VR acquired by him is based on stolen technology.
The lawsuit has been filed more than two years ago by game developer ZeniMax against Facebook and is finally going to get a decision.
ZeniMax is seeking $2 billion in damages from Facebook and coincidentally, Facebook had purchased Oculus for the same amount.
Officials from ZeniMax confirmed reports that Zuckerberg would indeed be testifying in court, followed by Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey, who will be testifying sometime later in the week.
The Trial
The trial commenced on Jan. 9 and John Carmack, the CTO of Oculus was the first one to testify. Interestingly, Carmack is also an ex-employee of ZeniMax.
Facebook tried to plead that Zuckerberg should not have to testify in court in relation to the acquisition of Oculus, but the court overruled the plea. Carmack, however, has been in the eye of the storm, as ZeniMax has alleged that he was violated the employee agreement with the company and knowingly shared private information about Oculus and adapted the technology in its VR.
The lawsuit has also alleged that Oculus has stolen trade secrets and software through Carmack and five other employees. Carmack previously was in charge of a company called id Software, known for creating games like Doom and Quake.
"It is one of the biggest technological heists ever," claims a lawyer representing ZeniMax, who made these comments during the opening remarks of the jury on Jan. 10.
Facebook believes that the allegations put forward by ZeniMax are baseless. It believes that the lawsuit has been filed only because ZeniMax misses investing in Oculus prior to the social media site acquiring the company.
An Oculus spokesperson had said that the founders and employees had spent their time and money in the VR because they were confident that it could change the way people interacted and communicated.
Zuckerberg, Luckey and other vital employees of Oculus are set to testify in the coming weeks. They will be interrogated on how Oculus was acquired by Facebook and will be asked about details pertaining to the invention of the Oculus Rift headset. They will also be probed about Carmack and his alleged violation of contract with ZeniMax.
With such high stakes, this lawsuit will undoubtedly be one of the most talked about cases in tech history and will keep everyone on tenterhooks, until the final decision is made.
Photo: Jason McELweenie | Flickr
