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Facebook In Court

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the custody-battles dept.

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?"

4 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. you wonder why they waited this long.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    Looks like the poster did a very bad job of reading the original article..

    from the article

    For the last three years, lawyers for the two sides have waged an increasingly contentious - though largely unnoticed - court battle.
  2. Not four years, suit filed 2003 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The lawsuit was filed in 2003 actually. This has been an on-going battle for years. There is merit to this case. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=connectu+face book

  3. Re:Why wait by pringlis · · Score: 5, Informative

    They actually originally filed in 2004 but it was dismissed. http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=503336 has details

  4. Difficult to check up on; not worth the bother. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    A) there's no point suing someone who has no money. Did you expect them to do it when he was in massive debt? He'd just declare bankrupcy, close the company and they'd get nothing.

    B) to get full damages you normally have to try to resolve things equitably without the court. It probably takes a long time to prove he wasn't cooperating.

    C) when you start suing, you have to be sure of your case. That means you have to get witnesses together and proof of your right to whatever you are suing over. He says / she says is not a good thing to risk the cost of an American lawsuit over.

    Now I'm not saying they are right (I don't know and you also don't know) or have a moral right to this, but the reasons are pretty obvious.