Facebook In Court

ScaredOfTheMan writes "'The lawsuit, filed by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra, accuses Zuckerberg, Facebook's 23-year-old C.E.O, of stealing the source code, design, and business plan for Facebook in 2003 when he briefly worked in the Harvard dorms as a programmer for their own fledgling social-networking site, now known as ConnectU. The plaintiffs have demanded that Facebook be shut down and that full control of the site — and its profits — be turned over to them.' I just wonder why they waited so long to sue? If he really stole their idea in 2003, why wait four years?"

of course, sue now

[ghostlibrary]

> If he really stole their idea in 2003, why wait four years?"

Because suing isn't about moral properness, suing is a business decision. You sue to profit. That's why you sue for money instead of, say, a sincere apology. Everyone's had business ideas and get-rich schemes stolen, you only sue if someone actually manages to succeed with your half-baked never-completed plan.

(Put me in the school of "it's not the idea or the code, it's the execution plus luck that creates success" school of thought.)

'Apology only lawsuits' are limited to kindergarten playgrounds, I guess.

Then there's the whole 'lawsuit as vengeance' school of thought, but in some ways that's even worse than suing just for money.

The more I write this, the more I increase my cynicism about the US legal system.

Serendipity ?

[cuchualainn]

Funny though, in terms of business psychology - you'll often find people with exceptional programming ability and tons of great ideas. But are too scattered and unfocused to actually run and slowly build a business from the ground up. Then on the other hand, you'll get individuals who aren't nearly as creative in the same sense. But who can take and idea and foster it until it becomes a true global champion. Maybe this could count as a kind of Internet serendipity ? As for who gets the cash ? Don't ask me ...

Facebook COUNTERSUED!

[Anonymous Coward]

http://news.justia.com/cases/connectu-facebook/337 138/ [justia.com]

However, it seems like Facebook's suit is more of a leverage to get the first case dismissed. Facebook is saying ConnectU damaged them somehow, but when asked, Facebook said they couldn't identify what the damages were. This is from a company worth billions, and rejected a $1 billion buy out offer.

And the defendent list includes new people, Winston Williams, Pacific Northwest Software, Wayne Chang, David Gucwa.

Let the battle of the titans begin!

Re:Musta only stole the good bits

[Angelwrath]

I looked at the site and it looks quite professional, actually. It looks very good considering that it's a student effort. Now if they had $100,000 to hire a UI design consultant, a graphics expert, and some expert coders, I'm sure it could look and perform much better.

Re:of course, sue now

[WIAKywbfatw]

Interesting question.

If I look over your garden fence and see that you're building a giant widget and then you notice and offer me a tour of your giant widget do you have any legal recourse if I decide that I like the idea of having my own giant widget and then make one for myself?

My gut instinct in that scenario is that you're screwed, unless you got any form of agreement from me before you showed me it. No agreement, no case.

Is my copying your idea without at least getting your permission ethical? I'd say no but others would disagree. Is it legal? Well, if you didn't get me to sign anything then, unfortunately for you, the answer is probably yes.

Re:why wait four years?

[Turn-X Alphonse]

I didn't hear about Facebook until last year. Not everyone is a social network whore you know.

Re:You'd expect the poster to have read the articl

[Daverd]

Facebook then filed a terse countersuit in California federal court, accusing ConnectU of tort violations and unfair business practices.

Facebook went a step beyond just that, they are also suing the programmers that worked for ConnectU at the time. I am now looking at having to pay a potential $25,000 if Facebook wins because I coded for ConnectU, simply because of this countersuit. Talk about unethical lawsuits...

Re:Why wait

[jebell]

A dismissal is a dismissal, whether based on a "technicality" or not.

Re:You'd expect the poster to have read the articl

[ScrewMaster]

If I were you I'd do two things: a. retain the services of a competent attorney and b. listen to him when he tells you to stop posting about the case on a public forum. You have no idea what effect what you just wrote could have if the opposition were to bring it up in court. Shut up about it until it's over and done. At that point, every software developer on Slashdot will want to hear all about it, me included, but in the meantime don't risk compromising yourself.