Last week, we wrote about the bizarre case in New York where a guy is claiming to own 84% of Facebook due to a signed contract with Mark Zuckerberg from six years ago. As we noted at the time, the terms of the contract seemed quite odd and it appeared unlikely to be legit. Now things are getting strange, as a Facebook lawyer has admitted to being "unsure" whether or not Mark Zuckerberg actually signed the contract. That seems like the sort of thing Facebook's lawyer should have found out before going to court, doesn't it?
The hearing also explained the situation in a little more detail, saying that the guy, Paul Ceglia, had hired Mark Zuckerberg to do some coding for Ceglia's own project (a sort of "Street View" thing, that was intended to be a paid app for insurance providers). Somehow, according to Ceglia's lawyers, the deal was expanded so that not only would Zuckerberg code Ceglia's project, but Ceglia would "invest" in Zuckerberg's online yearbook project. The whole thing still seems... confusing, at best. It's unclear why a simple work for hire coding deal would also involve investment in the early version of Facebook, and even the timing seems off, as much of this happened well before pretty much all other reports discuss Zuckerberg's first plans for Facebook.
Facebook is still claiming that the statute of limitations on this means it doesn't matter one way or the other, but it still is surprising that it's lawyer would go to court being "unsure" of whether or not Zuckerberg signed the contract.
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The hearing also explained the situation in a little more detail, saying that the guy, Paul Ceglia, had hired Mark Zuckerberg to do some coding for Ceglia's own project (a sort of "Street View" thing, that was intended to be a paid app for insurance providers). Somehow, according to Ceglia's lawyers, the deal was expanded so that not only would Zuckerberg code Ceglia's project, but Ceglia would "invest" in Zuckerberg's online yearbook project. The whole thing still seems... confusing, at best. It's unclear why a simple work for hire coding deal would also involve investment in the early version of Facebook, and even the timing seems off, as much of this happened well before pretty much all other reports discuss Zuckerberg's first plans for Facebook.
Facebook is still claiming that the statute of limitations on this means it doesn't matter one way or the other, but it still is surprising that it's lawyer would go to court being "unsure" of whether or not Zuckerberg signed the contract.
Permalink | Comments | Email This Story