VentureBeat - Latest Comments in The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

ButterflyFlowers — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:21:25 -0000

I agree the fighting should stop i think Mark Zuckerberg should give some of his wealth to the poor

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Paul Styant — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:31:15 -0000

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

VVV — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:28:22 -0000

Zuckerberg is a Zkumbag

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

johnny420 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:23:29 -0000

I have an Idea save the fighting
Why don't you both Facebook and ConnectU - Merge it into One and call it Connect Facebook or make up some similiar and Both of the networks have nothing to lose so whats the fuss about?

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Mansion House Florists — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:09:29 -0000

why does everyone always go on about law suites. i dont get how you can steal code as the source isn't always available.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Atika — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:09:01 -0000

By reading all this, one feels that anybody can file a lawsuit.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Vilyamqz — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:02:34 -0000

meridian cabana

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

klira — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:22:02 -0000

honeysuckle candy sticks

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

klira — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:47:01 -0000

black bitch cocksuckers

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

subwoofe — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:12:43 -0000

http://flowersshopping.info...

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Tom — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:07:43 -0000

True, the HTML code is available to copy, but that's not what runs the majority of the inner workings of these sites... you can't just go and copy the back-end code (PHP/ASP/JSP, etc) and then use it... if the code was stolen someone had to have gotten to the source. Any reasonable judge will note that the code from 2004? whatever is not the same as it is now... they should be able to compare the backend code and older versions of it on each site to see if there are any obvious stolen chunks on either side... regardless, FB is light years ahead of CU... there is no way they'll get ownership MZ is too smart for that...

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Belinda — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 15:43:42 -0000

Now it is interesting to me as a college student that I have never heard about ConnectU. One would think if the idea and dream of theirs were strong their site would be booming and eveyone I know including myself would have it. Facebook has become as important as the cell phone, people can't seem to function without it. It also occurs to me that there are mant websites out there that provide the same services as facebook; that of connecting people to their classmates or friends and forming new bonds. So who's to say that maybe Zuckerberg had the idea all along and wanted to partner with the brothers and when that turned sour he went his own way. Facebook has earned its badge not only domestically but internationally. I personally have connected with friends who have relocated to new countries who have fond me on Facebook. Was the business plan of ConnectU going to go that far?

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Carol Shepherd — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:50:45 -0000

I'm not surprised that the lawsuit is still around...litigation takes forever. If "Why is it still around?" means "why hasn't it settled," that's a different question. These types of cases (trade secret, work for hire, copyright, unfair competition) are notoriously facts-and-circumstances dependent, and there's no contract here to show what the parties clearly intended. If I were Facebook and I had a deep-pocket opponent who probably turned down some modest settlement offers, I would probably stick it out on the assumption that the other side's case won't hang together.

Not doing nondisclosure agreements, and not having a go-forward plan in place first on protecting the intellectual property, was a classic failure move on the part of the ConnectU founders. I agree that those were standard in the dot com boom and everything has become way too touchy-feely in Web 2.0 (but I am biased, as an attorney primarily for startups). This whole story is a case study in the "Anatomy of a Startup Screwup."

Carol Shepherd, Attorney, Ann Arbor, MI
http://arborlaw.com/blog/

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Amy — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 12:58:05 -0000

Stealing code happens more frequently than a person blinks. You can go to any website and view source codes - all you have to know is how to format what you're working with to make your design original. The problems arise when the big dreamers fail (ConnectU) and the wise-ass who makes a better plan (Facebook) gets lucky.

It very well may be the case that Zuckerberg stole the idea and primary source codes after working for the Winklevoss brothers. However, you cannot copyright an idea. If Zuckerberg came up with a better design concept and made a greater website than ConnectU, all the power to him.

The proof is in the pudding: ConnectU got no recognition and no money. They picked the short end of the stick. Therefore, when they realized Zuckerberg had struck proverbial gold with Facebook, they wanted to get their hands on a piece of the pie, too.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Audra — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:25:25 -0000

Have any of you actually made a ConnectU account? Their site sucks! Facebook allows you to still be in HS. CU doesn't. It's limited. So of course it wouldn't be as big. There are more HS and college students put together than just university students. Not to mention Facebook is laid out better. I don't care if the guy did "steal" code. CU should have been on the ball.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Audra — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:19:21 -0000

If this stupid. If that ConnectU site wins and is allowed control of Facebook I'll cancel my account.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

nyjomqxitk — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:17:06 -0000

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Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

FACEBOOK IS OFFICIALLY SHUT DO — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 05:18:47 -0000

FACEBOOK HAS OFFICIALLY SHUT DOWN JULY 31st AT 4:49 AM

REST IN PEACE FACEBOOK.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Really Facebook Lawsuit? — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:09:25 -0000

imagine if facebook were not so successful?

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

BostonDave — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:38:55 -0000

NDAs (I have phat phingers)

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

BostonDave — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:38:18 -0000

This just highlights the importance of making out a contract between early founders and thier consultants. Back in the W1 boom, people practically had non-competes and NDSs printed on every business card.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Mike — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:21:05 -0000

Facebook may have a better design and larger following, but if the kid stole the idea, source code and business plan, he should pay up

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Matt — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:20:00 -0000

Sounds like somebody wants some money and think they found an easy way to get it.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

Doug — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 06:34:28 -0000

:P ConnectU is rather late... It has an ugly design and it looks extremely unusable. At least FaceBook looks slightly nice, ConnectU makes me sick to the stomach.

Re: The Facebook lawsuit that hasn’t gone away

user — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:24:56 -0000

screw facebook.com and studiVZ.de and all the other thieves.