Illustration: the virtual reality helmet Oculus Rift. – AP/SIPA
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The sum is heavy, but Oculus has avoided the worst. If the subsidiary of Facebook has been ordered to pay $ 500 million to the publisher ZeniMax on Wednesday, the jury was forgiven on the question of the theft of industrial secrets. In the end, the manufacturer of the virtual reality helmet Oculus Rift is condemned for breaches of copyright and breaches of contract to be hired at Zenimax, John Carmack, has become its chief technology officer.

The jurors have not found any element of guilt in order to Facebook itself, which has acquired Oculus for $ 2 billion in 2014. They have, however, retained several of the charges against Oculus ($ 250 million), its co-founders Palmer Luckey ($ 50 million), and Brendan Iribe ($ 150 million), as well as against John Carmack.

During the presentation of the results of Facebook, the director of operations, Sheryl Sandberg, has minimized the verdict, explaining that he was not threatening the company. Zenimax can still apply for a suspension of the sale of the Oculus Rift, but his chances of that happening would have been much higher in the case of a conviction for theft of industrial secrets. Zenimax accused notably Carmack of stealing computer code before you leave, and swore that Oculus would never have been able to conceive the Rift without his help.

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