Even though Facebook has tried to be polite, eventually the company decided that it had to crack down on other Internet and social networking companies who were trying to create sites that were too close to their specific design.

As its target, Facebook has chosen the German company StudiVZ, saying that the company has infringed on the look, the feel, and the features and services of Facebook in a way which has become a copyright problem. In other words, Facebook is saying that the other company copied them, and they’re mad about it.

Whether they win will depend on whether a judge thinks that the German company really did infringe on Facebook’s copyright or whether their design was unintentional.

What is decided will send a message to other social networking sites, but it seems that Facebook probably has a case. The German site looks as though someone took Facebook, translated it into the German language, and changed the coloring to red. Beyond that, the sites are startlingly similar from one page to the next, showing that there is a good chance the judge in the case will rule in favor of Facebook over StudiVZ.

Whatever happens, it could change the rules behind social networking for sites all over the world.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 12:25 am and is filed under Site news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.