Power.com counter sues Facebook

July 13, 2009
11:35 pm

Justice Seeker

Heather L. Ryan, R.N., C.L.N.C- Heather Ryan is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant with 15 years of experience in the health care industry. Her expertise in reviewing medical records and assisting lawyers with the determination as to whether legal action should be taken provides an invaluable asset to the newsroom. Medical-malpractice, products liability, personal injury and workers’ compensation are some of the recent areas of litigation Ms. Ryan has focused her efforts on. A member of the Florida Justice Association, Heather maintains a long list of certifications and credentials to support her areas of expertise and stays up-to-date with her clinical knowledge working as an emergency room/trauma nurse, at a Level 1, Adult/Pediatric trauma and teaching institution in South Florida.

Power.com counter sues Facebook

Legal news for California business litigation lawyers.

Power.com counter sues Facebook claiming anti-competitive business practices.

San Francisco, CA–Facebook, a popular online social network, is a named defendant in a countersuit filed business litigation attorneys for Power.com, as reported by the Washington Post. San-Francisco based Power, or Power Ventures Inc., filed a lawsuit against Facebook in a California court on Friday. The social network giant, Facebook, sued Power, an independent one-stop social network aggregator, six months ago. Power allows Internet users to access more than one social network website through a single portal. Currently, Power connects over eight million users from Myspace, Twitter, LinkIn, Okut, and HI5. Facebook has upwards of 200 million members.

Power’s lawsuit accuses Facebook of creating a monopoly, restraint of trade, and unfair competition. Six months ago, lawyers for Facebook accused Power of fraud, unlawful competition, and trademark and copyright infringement in their business litigation lawsuit. Power’s service enables users to share information and access several social networking websites. Power believes that a profile’s content and data, stored on the social networking websites, belongs to the Internet users who created the profile. Facebook feels that users are put at risk when information and profiles are shared and modified through aggregators like Power.
A few months ago, Facebook attempted to alter their terms of service agreements with their users, by refusing to allow people to share their information and change their personal profiles through gateways like Power. However, users were unhappy Facebook was trying to claim ownership of their personal information found on their individual profiles. In response to the overwhelming user complaints, Facebook gave up on the issue. Power’s counter lawsuit demands Facebook be forever banned from “anti-competitive practices.” Power is also asking for an undeclared amount of compensation for unspecified damages and costs. Facebook denies Power’s claims and plans to fight the case.

Legal news report for California business litigation lawyers.