German site sued by Facebook
- added July 21, 2008
- 4 responses
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- mundosanto
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The German company sued by Facebook for running a "knockoff" of the social networking Web site said on Sunday it asked a German court to declare that Facebook's claims are without merit.
Facebook's complaint, filed on Friday in a California federal court, accuses studiVZ of copying the look, feel, features and services of Facebook and seeks "to end StudiVZ's illegal activity" lest Facebook's own reputation be harmed by association.
"As with any counterfeit product, StudiVZ's uncontrolled quality standards for service, features and privacy negatively impact the genuine article," Facebook stated in the complaint.
StudiVZ filed for declaratory judgment at the District Court in Stuttgart, also on Friday.
Facebook's suit also seeks compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial.
StudiVZ claims Facebook is suing them only because Facebook has failed to transplant its success in the United States and other countries to the German market.
"Their strategy appears to be: 'If you can't beat them, sue them,"' said Marcus Riecke, chief executive of studiVZ, which is owned by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, a German publishing company.
Facebook's complaint, filed on Friday in a California federal court, accuses studiVZ of copying the look, feel, features and services of Facebook and seeks "to end StudiVZ's illegal activity" lest Facebook's own reputation be harmed by association.
"As with any counterfeit product, StudiVZ's uncontrolled quality standards for service, features and privacy negatively impact the genuine article," Facebook stated in the complaint.
StudiVZ filed for declaratory judgment at the District Court in Stuttgart, also on Friday.
Facebook's suit also seeks compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial.
StudiVZ claims Facebook is suing them only because Facebook has failed to transplant its success in the United States and other countries to the German market.
"Their strategy appears to be: 'If you can't beat them, sue them,"' said Marcus Riecke, chief executive of studiVZ, which is owned by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, a German publishing company.
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- mundosanto
- 2 months ago
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When I first went onto StudiVZ, I was stunned because it was so similar to Facebook and I am not at all surprised that Facebook is finally taking legal action to do something about it. StudiVZ is like a more basic and more faulty version of Facebook, so I understand why they are concerned about it harming their reputation. I don't see why they don't do anything about sites like Bebo though, which are quite similar as well.
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- JanaPokana
- 2 months ago
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Well Facebook is a successful working formula, so it isn't surprising on something as vast as the internet that there're gonna be imitators. Interesting that StudiVZ was trying to corner the German (and it seems mainland European, from their site) market when they were caught - I guess just because it aims at different markets doesn't stop the *idea* and format being copyrighted.
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Ha, the pink facebook finally got caught. Oh, studiverzeichnis, you musta seen it coming. It is exactly the same, except you can track who is looking at your page.
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- drewsuf721
- 2 months ago
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wow.. it does look identical. Even all the sections, groups and layout. Not exactly subtle piracy eh..?
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