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Global Forums > General > "Facebook Can Afford to Buy Back Its Good Name": Moral -- Steal Big and Settle the Lawsuit Later
 
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"Facebook Can Afford to Buy Back Its Good Name": Moral -- Steal Big and Settle the Lawsuit Later
Apr 7, 2008 @ 23:40

Facebook Can Afford to Buy Back Its Good Name

By Sam Gustin, Portfolio.com  04.07.08 | 1:05 PM

In 2004, three Harvard alums filed a lawsuit against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg accusing him of stealing the idea for Facebook from them. Since then, Zuckerberg has become a very, very rich man.

Rich enough, in appears, to make the lawsuit go away.

The New York Times' Bits blog says that Facebook is close to settling the lawsuit—filed by two brothers, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and a colleague, Divya Narendra—that accuses Zuckerberg of stealing the source code, design and business plan for Facebook in 2003.

At the time, Zuckerberg briefly worked as a programmer for the plaintiffs' own fledgling social-networking site, now known as ConnectU.

Terms of the settlement, if indeed there is one, have not been disclosed. A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment on legal matters. Portfolio.com e-mails to Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit had been the source of much consternation to Facebook, because its core assertion contested Zuckerberg's claim to have founded Facebook while at Harvard.

At the time, Winklevoss described Zuckerberg's actions to Portfolio.com as "premeditated, well thought out, duplicitous and conniving."

"We were shocked and in utter disbelief," Winklevoss said, describing his reaction when Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004. Zuckerberg, Winklevoss said, had done so after promising to help build Harvard Connection, now known as ConnectU. "This was our idea, and Mark stole it."

Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, said a settlement would remove an obstacle to Facebook going public, an outcome that Zuckerberg is thought to be shooting for.

"It's fairly typical for a company to settle major litigation in anticipation of a major corporate event like an I.P.O. or an acquisition," Goldman said. "Settling the litigation reduces one of the risk factors that might depress valuation."

In the months since the lawsuit revved up, Facebook has exploded in popularity and received a $240 million investment from Microsoft, valuing the company at a cool $15 billion. Zuckerberg himself is now thought to be worth over a $1 billion, making the 23-year-old the youngest billionaire in the world.

If the settlement goes through, it would represent a softening of Facebook's position toward the suit.

Last fall, a Facebook spokesperson lashed out at the Winklevosses and Narendra, saying, "It is unfortunate but not surprising that others falsely claim credit for [Facebook] after its enormous success."

The text you are quoting:

Facebook Can Afford to Buy Back Its Good Name

By Sam Gustin, Portfolio.com  04.07.08 | 1:05 PM

In 2004, three Harvard alums filed a lawsuit against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg accusing him of stealing the idea for Facebook from them. Since then, Zuckerberg has become a very, very rich man.

Rich enough, in appears, to make the lawsuit go away.

The New York Times' Bits blog says that Facebook is close to settling the lawsuit—filed by two brothers, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and a colleague, Divya Narendra—that accuses Zuckerberg of stealing the source code, design and business plan for Facebook in 2003.

At the time, Zuckerberg briefly worked as a programmer for the plaintiffs' own fledgling social-networking site, now known as ConnectU.

Terms of the settlement, if indeed there is one, have not been disclosed. A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment on legal matters. Portfolio.com e-mails to Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit had been the source of much consternation to Facebook, because its core assertion contested Zuckerberg's claim to have founded Facebook while at Harvard.

At the time, Winklevoss described Zuckerberg's actions to Portfolio.com as "premeditated, well thought out, duplicitous and conniving."

"We were shocked and in utter disbelief," Winklevoss said, describing his reaction when Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004. Zuckerberg, Winklevoss said, had done so after promising to help build Harvard Connection, now known as ConnectU. "This was our idea, and Mark stole it."

Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, said a settlement would remove an obstacle to Facebook going public, an outcome that Zuckerberg is thought to be shooting for.

"It's fairly typical for a company to settle major litigation in anticipation of a major corporate event like an I.P.O. or an acquisition," Goldman said. "Settling the litigation reduces one of the risk factors that might depress valuation."

In the months since the lawsuit revved up, Facebook has exploded in popularity and received a $240 million investment from Microsoft, valuing the company at a cool $15 billion. Zuckerberg himself is now thought to be worth over a $1 billion, making the 23-year-old the youngest billionaire in the world.

If the settlement goes through, it would represent a softening of Facebook's position toward the suit.

Last fall, a Facebook spokesperson lashed out at the Winklevosses and Narendra, saying, "It is unfortunate but not surprising that others falsely claim credit for [Facebook] after its enormous success."
TranslatorApr 7, 2008 @ 23:40

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Re: "Facebook Can Afford to Buy Back Its Good Name": Moral -- Steal Big and Settle the Lawsuit Later
Post 1
Apr 8, 2008 @ 19:17
Big money is usually more powerful in our world than truth or principles...Maybe Zuky really did steal the idea. But he'll pay to keep it out of court, and in a few months it will long forgotten...
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Big money is usually more powerful in our world than truth or principles...Maybe Zuky really did steal the idea. But he'll pay to keep it out of court, and in a few months it will long forgotten...
Nir Ofek, Apr 8, 2008 @ 19:17
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Re: "Facebook Can Afford to Buy Back Its Good Name": Moral -- Steal Big and Settle the Lawsuit Later
Post 2
Apr 8, 2008 @ 20:12
Which Idea is not stolen nowadays ? Are there truly new fresh Ideas around.

Maybe the others talked around the subject, while there was one man of action (Zuckerberg). Later everybody sais that it's stolen, because the idea didn't make the reality......

The text you are quoting:
Which Idea is not stolen nowadays ? Are there truly new fresh Ideas around.

Maybe the others talked around the subject, while there was one man of action (Zuckerberg). Later everybody sais that it's stolen, because the idea didn't make the reality......
Crepe, Apr 8, 2008 @ 20:12

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Re: "Facebook Can Afford to Buy Back Its Good Name": Moral -- Steal Big and Settle the Lawsuit Later
Post 3
Apr 8, 2008 @ 20:54
Zuckerberg's "action" was to take advantage of the naivete of his fellow students employers:

"Here are the facts that are not disputed: In 2002, when the Winklevoss brothers were juniors at Harvard, they conceived what was initially called the HarvardConnection, which was to be a social network for the college. In November 2003, they asked Mr. Zuckerberg, who was studying computer science at Harvard, to develop the site’s software and database, promising to compensate him later if the venture prospered.

Mr. Zuckerberg abandoned the project in February 2004, a month after registering the domain name thefacebook.com. By the end of that February, his new site, also a social network for Harvard, had registered half the college’s undergraduates. By April 2004, it had spread to other Ivy League schools.

Very quickly, thefacebook expanded to serve other universities, then high schools, then organizations as varied as McDonald’s and the Marine Corps, and finally the general public. By contrast, ConnectU never really got started: it didn’t open until May 2004, and, overshadowed by what became, simply, Facebook, today it has no more than 70,000 registered users.

In their suit and in public statements, the Winklevoss brothers contend that Mr. Zuckerberg promised to finish coding before the brothers left college in June 2004 and that he procrastinated to gain a competitive advantage. Mr. Zuckerberg and Facebook’s lawyers say that there was no binding contract between the two parties." [August 12, 2007, NYTimes]

It seems pretty clear that the Zuckerberg's involvement with the three who hired him on a contingency basis preceded his launch of Facebook.  His fellow students should have gotten him to sign a non-disclosure agreement.  

Zuckerberg also figured out that getting the idea to "market" first would give him a huge advantage.  He could have kept them in court indefinitely, given his funds.  But he settled and I doubt it was purely out of good will or getting rid of a nuisance.   

You can be sure that any settlement includes no admission of guilt and silence from his fellow alums in exchange for a hefty sum.  :cool:

I'm not crying for the others; they are most likely multi-millionaires now.  Some people's good ideas are stolen.  If you don't have the money and the lawyers to get your day in court, you are SOL. 

The text you are quoting:
Zuckerberg's "action" was to take advantage of the naivete of his fellow students employers:

"Here are the facts that are not disputed: In 2002, when the Winklevoss brothers were juniors at Harvard, they conceived what was initially called the HarvardConnection, which was to be a social network for the college. In November 2003, they asked Mr. Zuckerberg, who was studying computer science at Harvard, to develop the site’s software and database, promising to compensate him later if the venture prospered.

Mr. Zuckerberg abandoned the project in February 2004, a month after registering the domain name thefacebook.com. By the end of that February, his new site, also a social network for Harvard, had registered half the college’s undergraduates. By April 2004, it had spread to other Ivy League schools.

Very quickly, thefacebook expanded to serve other universities, then high schools, then organizations as varied as McDonald’s and the Marine Corps, and finally the general public. By contrast, ConnectU never really got started: it didn’t open until May 2004, and, overshadowed by what became, simply, Facebook, today it has no more than 70,000 registered users.

In their suit and in public statements, the Winklevoss brothers contend that Mr. Zuckerberg promised to finish coding before the brothers left college in June 2004 and that he procrastinated to gain a competitive advantage. Mr. Zuckerberg and Facebook’s lawyers say that there was no binding contract between the two parties." [August 12, 2007, NYTimes]

It seems pretty clear that the Zuckerberg's involvement with the three who hired him on a contingency basis preceded his launch of Facebook.  His fellow students should have gotten him to sign a non-disclosure agreement.  

Zuckerberg also figured out that getting the idea to "market" first would give him a huge advantage.  He could have kept them in court indefinitely, given his funds.  But he settled and I doubt it was purely out of good will or getting rid of a nuisance.   

You can be sure that any settlement includes no admission of guilt and silence from his fellow alums in exchange for a hefty sum.  :cool:

I'm not crying for the others; they are most likely multi-millionaires now.  Some people's good ideas are stolen.  If you don't have the money and the lawyers to get your day in court, you are SOL. 
Translator, Apr 8, 2008 @ 20:54

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