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Facebook Buys a Private File Sharing Service

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the playing-acquisitionville dept.

angry tapir writes "Facebook has purchased most of drop.io, an online content-sharing service, but the social-networking giant sounds more interested in acquiring the company's developers than its technology. Drop.io is a service that lets users create a 'drop' where they can share documents, videos and other digital content. The user can set a time for how long the drop will exist, decide who can view the content, set permissions for who can alter the content and share content in a variety of ways, including on Facebook."

6 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. Feudalism and the new serfdom? by Omnifarious · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Buying a company for its employees seems so much like a recapitulation of the feudal system. I've already felt that America has basically become a feudal state with the federal government playing the role of king, and large corporations playing the role of feudal vassals. But this just throws that into sharp relief.

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    1. Re:Feudalism and the new serfdom? by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Also suppose the company is totally private, no investors. Some guys start it up, fund everything themselves, etc. Not that uncommon for online companies, actually. Ok so they are making money, happy, all that. The owners are the employees. Now Facebook wants them as employees, and they want the team, it is clearly a good one. Easiest way to get them all? See if they'll sell their company. Offer them a buyout, and to come along with it. Effectively it is a "hiring bonus" if you want to look at it that way. However it means you don't have to worry about them dividing their time with their old project, and you get them as a team if they all say yes (buyouts of private companies are always mutual, you can't just buy up their stock).

      In this case though, there were investors. So as the parent says, that takes care of that rather nicely. The investors get a payout, all contracts are satisfied, the employees are free and clear.

      That is something you have to remember is that investment money often comes with some strings attached. You can't just take it, spend it on whatever you like, then quit your company. That could get you in trouble. Doesn't mean you are beholden to the investors for life or something, but there are conditions. A buyout solves all that. Everyone signs off as happy, the company goes away and is part of another company, and so on.

      In the case of a buyout just for IP, well the employees may get the short end of the stick. The owners and investors get money, the employees get shown the door by the new company. In this case, they all get to keep their jobs, they are just working on something new now, or maybe working on the same thing for new people.

      If they don't like it they are, of course, free to walk.

    2. Re:Feudalism and the new serfdom? by nacturation · · Score: 2, Interesting

      In this case, they all get to keep their jobs, they are just working on something new now, or maybe working on the same thing for new people. If they don't like it they are, of course, free to walk.

      They may be getting told to walk. From drop.io's announcement:

      "What this means is that Facebook has bought most of drop.io's technology and assets, and Sam Lessin is moving to Facebook."

      That makes it sound like this is a one person deal.

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  2. any legal issues with the on line file shearing sy by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 2, Interesting

    any legal issues with the on line file shearing system that facebook can be in for by buying one?
    There is alot warez , movies and mp3s on them.

  3. Re:any legal issues with the on line file shearing by timeOday · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sean Parker was a co-founder of Facebook, and also Napster, so I guess he knows something about legal issues. Napster was sued and ruled out of existence as much as any company can be (I'm sure total value of infringing content on Napster was more than the gross product of the entire universe for all time, using RIAA math) yet its founders came out just fine and went on to do bigger and better things, somehow.

  4. Wait, what? by Bieeanda · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Permissions? Content that can not only be permanently deleted, but will do itself in with the right settings? What the Hell does Facebook want with people who do things like that?