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By Jordan Valinsky 5/01 4:58pm

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(Photo: Smedio)

Sorry, Facegbook: Facebook Wins Lawsuit Over Domain Squatters

Typing Facebook.com on a roller coaster just got so much easier! A U.S. District Court in California has awarded Facebook a victory against several so-called typosquatters–companies that buy domains names similar in spelling to big websites, then profit off of users’ terrible typing skills.

More than 100 domains that involved variations of the word Facebook (i.e. facesbook.com, facebof.com, or our favorite, facebookforteens.com) were found being controlled by just a few companies with names that sound like they were ripped from a Law and Order script (lookin’ at you, Domain Inc.). They didn’t respond to allegations of violating the social network’s trademark for profit, so Facebook was awarded a default judgement of $3 million in statutory damages.  Read More

By Jordan Valinsky 4/02 4:55pm

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Not happening. (Photo: TechTheBest.com)

Facebook Isn’t Adding a Dislike Button, Even If Your Friend Gets Dumped

During a Reddit AMA today, Facebook product engineer Bob Baldwin faced a barrage of questions about everyone’s favorite website to hate.  He confirmed there was a secret, creepy sounding room at the bottom of its Palo Alto headquarters, he admitted that the much beleaguered “Questions” feature sucked, and he repeated Mark Zuckerberg’s mobile mantra to prospective web developers. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 3/19 9:30am

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Screen shot 2013-03-19 at 8.26.54 AM

MessageMe, the Addictive App Facebook Tried to Buy Before Cutting It Off, Already Picked Up More Than 1M. Users

There have been a rash of reports recently about Facebook’s mercurial approach to third-party developers. The social network may not want to be “in the business of king-making,” by boosting–or suppressing–traffic to popular apps, as Douglas Purdy, director of developer products, told Reuters. But Facebook is increasingly willing to shut the castle gate on competitors.

While Facebook claims it’s an effort to stop spam and promote apps that add value to the network, “Developers say the crackdown is an attempt to stifle applications that compete with Facebook-owned services,” or pay for ads on Facebook, the Wall Street Journal reported last night.   Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 3/12 1:26pm

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Mr. Ceglia. (facebook.com)

Paul Ceglia’s at It Again, Claiming His Constitutional Rights Are Being Violated

You’ve got to hand it to Paul Ceglia, the man who would own Facebook. Most people, when charged with criminal fraud by the U.S. government, would abandon the civil lawsuit that got them into trouble in the first place. Not Mr. Ceglia. This onetime wood-pellet salesman is continuing his quixotic quest to claim a slice of the social network.

The Wall Street Journal reports that he’s now suing to stop the criminal proceedings against him, accusing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of violating his constitutional rights.

This is starting to sound less Law and Order, more junior varsity mock trial.  Read More

By Steve Huff, Nitasha Tiku and Kelly Faircloth 10/26/12 11:32am

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Illustration by David Saracino.

U.S. Attorney Arrests Paul Ceglia for Multibillion-Dollar Scheme to Defraud Facebook

For years, Facebook’s lawyers have been arguing that Paul Ceglia’s claim to at least half of Facebook was baseless. Even federal judges have been moved to strong language by Mr. Ceglia’s lawsuit, which offered up a Microsoft Word document of cut-and-pasted emails between him and Mark Zuckerberg as proof that he helped fund Mr. Zuckerberg’s work in the early days of development and was therefore entitled to a share of Facebook.

Today, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has come out with a surprising complaint that screams “Team Zuck.” In the complaint, the U.S. Attorney’s office has charged Mr. Ceglia with an attempt to con Facebook to the tune of several billion dollars. Mr. Ceglia, 39, was arrested in Wellsville, N.Y., this morning on one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Read More

By Steve Huff 9/27/12 5:12pm

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pulibeast

Facebook Purging Fake ‘Likes’ as Promised

Facebook is finally following up on its plan to eliminate the phenomenon of fake page or profile ‘likes’ produced by malware or deception. As CNN reports, this has caused noticeable dips in likes on a number of popular pages, such as those for Lady Gaga, The Simpsons and Zynga’s page for Texas HoldEm Poker. We tried and failed to see if the page for Zuck’s dog Beast had taken a hit during the purge, but with 989,000 likes and counting, we think the adorable Hungarian Sheepdog can rest easy, for now.