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Facebook Sued For Alleged Theft of Data Center Design
itwbennett writes British engineering company BladeRoom Group says it contacted Facebook in 2011 about using its technique, which involves constructing data centers in a modular fashion from pre-fabricated parts. What happened next isn't clear, since much of the public version of BRG's lawsuit is redacted. But it claims Facebook ended up stealing its ideas and using them to build part of a data center in Lulea, Sweden, that opened last year. 'Facebook's misdeeds might never have come to light had it decided that simply stealing BRG's intellectual property was enough,' the company said in its lawsuit, filed Monday at the federal district court in San Jose, California. "Instead, Facebook went further when it decided to encourage and induce others to use BRG's intellectual property though an initiative created by Facebook called the 'Open Compute Project.'"
... it's apparently an exclusive concept to BRG [facepalm]
Wouldn't be the first time that Mark had blatantly stolen someone else's idea.
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
Datacenter in a shipping container anyone?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Modular_Data_Center
'Facebook's misdeeds might never have come to light had it decided that simply stealing BRG's intellectual property was enough,' the company said in its lawsuit, filed Monday at the federal district court in San Jose, California.
They surely must be salivating...
"its technique, which involves constructing data centers in a modular fashion from pre-fabricated parts."
sounds kinda like how we used to build cell sites twenty-five years ago... (back when they required dedicated buildings)
Particularly after you start trying to license/sell the concepts to a lot of other companies.
OMG someone copied our building.
I guess they invented construction and every step of the way themselves too, right?
Typical "I did it all alone" mentality. Be it business, individuals or anyone else.
How can you claim something is a trade secret if you show it to others? If you want to keep your design proprietary, patent it.
So, part of their case is that a FB guy mentioned modular hospitals last year, and they're the only ones who do that sort of thing?
Sounds a bit thin to me....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Did BRG have that concept patented?
The correct answer is 42.
If the design was so special they shouldn't have shared it on Facebook. DUH.
Nobody cared when the wealth Winklewoss' brothers were ripped off. But now we all know that's happening regularly now with this company. FB profit from your personal data and rip off other companies to profit at their expense also.
When they eventually get around to doing them, sue them and say they stole your ideas. Profit!
"simply stealing BRG's intellectual property"
There's your problem right there. There's no such thing.
It's just people wanting to be paid for the same job multiple times.
Neither of which accusations have anything to do with "Intellectual Property". It may very well be that they were screwed over by someone else implementing their concepts at a different scale and profitability without bothering to involve them. That's called "progress". Only in limited circumstances does it happen at the speed of litigation.
I would very much like to know the specifics of this case because as I see it, FB had a company come in for a sales pitch, FB opted to not use them and instead made something themselves based on a similar (or even identical) design. To my knowledge, FB didn't try to sell this tech to anyone else, and unless they just failed to mention it they also didn't sign anything saying they agreed to not duplicate the plantiff's tech on their own. Sounds like the company is just salty because they lost a huge sale and is hopeful FB will settle to avoid bad publicity.
So, was there a non-disclosure agreement? You don't have a statutory right to not have your ideas stolen.
So apparently BGM has decided that it's time to bankrupt themselves, cause I can't imagine that *anyone* would want to work with them after this kind of idiotic stunt.
that anyone on this planet is actually using Facebook to begin with. I have never been, and never will be, a use of Facebook. All of the people around me who have Facebook accounts wish they did not. Most of what I hear about Facebook from people who use the service are negative. Zuckerberg is not a brilliant guy, he just ripped off an idea. Sort of like what this article is describing. "Social media" is such an oxymoron, because the people who use it usually have no real social life to speak of.
geek n performer who performs morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken
This is one reason why lawyers often populate senior management at Hollywood studios. They get sent unsolicited screenplays and get pitched by strangers in restaurants, and five years later someone claims that their idea was stolen.
correct me if I'm wrong... but didn't this whole concept of racks, equipment, wires, central power come from the telephone company 100 years ago?
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Building architecture is not patentable. Sorry, BGM. Unless you patented modular HVAC machinery and associated parts and joints and got an EU patent as well as the US one, there is not much you can assert.
Most of the claims aren't listed so it's hard to draw a conclusion.
And don't hold your breath waiting for them to be listed publicly, either.
If this is over trade secrets, the alleged trade secrets, if legitimate, will still be secret. So unless/until Facebook gets a judgement that the claims are bogus, the proceedings will be under seal.
Even if they ARE bogus it may not be in Facebook's interest to publish them, either. They might be little-known enough that exposing them to their competition might make the competitive environent tougher for Facebook.
So don't be surprised if the "secrets" and the details of the verdict or settlement remain under wraps.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way