"Stephen Kenson - Technobabel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kenson Stephen)

the great megacorporations to carefully maintain the balance of power. Better
to be assured of slow and certain growth and control over the world's markets
than to risk the devastation unfettered competition could create. The corps
agreed to certain rules by which they would play the game, but now it was
suspected that Renraku was breaking those rules. It was highly possible that
their acquisition of Miles Lanier was letting them conduct industrial
espionage on a massive scale, allowing them to push new product onto the
market well in advance of the competition and to know their competitors' moves
even before they made them.
"So we're still accusing Renraku of violating the Concords?" Hague asked. It
had happened before. Everyone knew it. Part of the point of having rules was
so the megacorporations could find ways around them. Just as ordinary people
broke the laws of their governments, so did the megacorporations occasionally
break the laws of the Corporate Court. It could be a considerable advantage to
claim resources not possessed by a rival.
"Yes," Osborne said. "Renraku is trying to gain clear superiority in areas
where Fuchi operates, and everyone knows Lanier has to be giving them
something to help them do it. They've got to be stopped now, David, before
this all gets out of control. I talked to Priault, and I can tell that even
Saeder-Krupp is worried about this. Priault is a stone-face, but I could still
read him."

"And if you're right about Renraku and they refuse to abide by any sanctions
the Court makes, you know what it will mean," Hague said. He was quiet for
several long seconds before completing the terrible thought. "Corporate war."
"It won't come to that," Osborne replied tartly, obviously unwilling to even
consider such a possibility. "Soon we'll have the information we need to bring
Lanier and Renraku down."
A smile crept back over her face as she tapped the data-pad she was holding.
"And Fuchi can be right there to pick up the pieces."




4
In ancient times it was widely believed that knowing the name of something
gave you control over that person or thing. People would have secret names
known only to themselves and to their closest friends and family, and a "use
name" they would tell to the world at large. In this way they protected
themselves from enemies who might use magic against them. Now it is the
twenty-first century. Magic has returned to the world and there is a new
culture of people who guard their names. They hide behind so-called "street
names" to conceal their true identities from the law and to keep their real
names out of the massive computer systems keeping track of nearly everyone in
the world. Even the pirate users of the computer Matrix, the deckers, make use
of false names to cover their transactions. In the age of technology, true
names have become more important than ever.
-Mullins Chadwick, Monkeytribe:
A Survival Manual for Erect Bipeds,
Putnam-Izumo, New York, 2043