VentureBeat

dave mcclure said:

one other note about IPOs… they tend to bring everybody & their uncle out of the wordwork, and they file suits right about the time the company goes into its quiet period.

the intent is to fuck with the target company’s IPO filing, and also fuck with their PR when they’re not supposed to be saying much publicly.

there were a shitload of these that came down right as PayPal was getting ready to go out (banks, legislators, competitors, IP claims, patent filers, etc, etc). i’m sure every company going public goes thru it, some more noticeably than others.

however, in the end most times either thru failed suits and/or negotiated settlements, the beat goes on…

dave mcclure said:

er, “woodwork”.

i kant spel reel gud yet, but i can has cheezburger.

(in yr blog, makin’ pour commentz)

Ivan Pope said:

“What’s surprising is that this case hasn’t gone away.” Surely you mean that’s unsurprising. I mean, as you say, “The stakes have only increased, now that Facebook is widely considered worth more than $1 billion, and as much as $8 billion depending on who you listen to.” As the stakes are so high, why are you surprised it hasn’t gone away? Of course it hasn’t gone away.

10668844 said:

http://albumoftheday.com/facebook/

As an interesting comment on where the investor money has come from, view the above link. It’s for interest sake and nothing else.

Personally, I don’t give Facebook more than two more years of having an relevancy. Look at how MySpace is losing it’s ‘cool’ factor, Facebook will be the next to fall.

Mike said:

This could be why Facebook turned down the acquisition from Yahoo, the representations and warranties would kill them if Facebook lost, and the brothers sued Yahoo for $1B.

Matt Marshall said:

By surprised, I mean that genuinely. This case has dragged on and on, and I’m surprised that if Facebook really doesn’t think its going anywhere that it hasn’t been settled or dispensed of yet actively by the Facebook side — precisely because it does become a bigger issue the longer it goes on.

However, if it is true that the UConnect brothers are quite wealthy and are going to dig in and keep fighting, maybe you’re right — its not that surprising.

Paul Bradish said:

This case was around long before talks of IPO, correct?

The two brothers really should have set Zuckerberg to a stronger contract. Most programmers will “take” some of the code, unless specifically told not to.

Steve said:

What’s important is not so much “did he or didn’t he steal the code,” but more “who has the proof?”

Software companies have precious little ability to protect their IP. Patents don’t really work - especially given how fast things move, Trademarks protect brand but not code which leaves only copyright, which unless stipulated in an employment contract, belongs to the writer.

This leads me to believe that the ConnectU folk have not really got a leg to stand on - unless they have contracts. Yahoo! will still buy Facebook if it wants, but this will form part of it’s due-diligence process. If they don’t bite, then I expect the ConnectU people DO have something on Facebook.

Considering many Web2.0 apps have only one way of making money for the owner (a massive payout in the form of trade-sale of IPO), it’s surprising more don’t document and track everything (and everyone) they touch during their growth.

user said:

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

Doug said:

: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.

Matt said:

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

Mike said:

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

David said:

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.

David said:

NDAs (I have phat phingers)

Really Facebook Lawsuit? said:

imagine if facebook were not so successful?

FACEBOOK IS OFFICIALLY SHUT DOWN.q said:

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

REST IN PEACE FACEBOOK.

nyjomqxitk said:

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Audra said:

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

Audra said:

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.

Amy said:

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.

Carol Shepherd said:

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/

Belinda said:

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?

Tom said:

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…

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Atika said:

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

Mansion House Florists said:

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