Facebook War to Be Decided in August

Have you ever heard of ConnectU.com? Neither has the rest of the world. But if you listen to two twin brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, ConnectU.com was their brainchild along with Harvard classmate and friend Mark Zuckerberg. Today Mark Zuckerberg is the face of the Internet's newest sensation, Facebook. And the Winklevoss brothers feel slighted, suing Zuckerberg for stealing their idea and not paying them according to a contract they agreed to in a Harvard dorm room.

According to Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, while all of them were students at Harvard University they developed the idea for ConnectU.com, also known as the Harvard Connection along with Mark Zuckerberg. In their court documents, Tyler and Cameron testify that they began developing the platform for the Harvard Connection site that would connect Harvard students together in 2002. During a dorm room or board room conversation, all three agreed that the Winklevoss twins would receive twenty-five percent of the profits for the site. The case revolves around what took place during this dorm room brooding session.

The Winklevoss brothers contest that on January 8^th, 2004, they met in a Harvard dorm room with Mark Zuckerberg and Divya Narendra. According to the Winklevoss brothers, during that meeting, an agreement was struck where Zuckerberg would help them launch their site which became ConnectU.com. After the meeting adjourned and three days passed, Mark Zuckerberg registers thefacebook.com. It must be noted that the features between ConnectU.com and Facebook are almost carbon copies. In fact, users can convert their profiles from the ConnectU.com site to Facebook without any problems. They allege that Zuckerberg intentionally stalled the development of their social networking site while developing his own allowing him to launch six months in advance of their site. In November 2003, the three asked Zuckerberg to complete software and database work on the site. They repeatedly asked him to finish before they graduated in June 2004, and Zuckerberg assured them he was working hard to complete it, the lawsuit says.

Both Facebook and ConnectU.com leverage relationships via technological connections. Their entire goal is to connect college students, working adults, and others who are active users of the Internet together. Unlike the other large social networking site, MySpace, Facebook is committed to a more unique and disciplined experience for users. Both sites allow users to add profiles with pictures, personal backgrounds, and other personal information. Additionally users can create networks of people from their schools, jobs, or interests.

In the early days of Facebook, membership was for students at Harvard University only. After some growth and development, expansion went to the other schools inside the Boston metro area. About two months later, all the Ivy Leagues schools received access to the Facebook platform. Over the next twelve months or so, colleges and universities were added almost daily as students from one university sought to connect with students from others campuses. Before too long, Facebook was opened up to anyone that had an active email address.

With over thirty million members, Facebook has the largest number of registered users among college-focused sites in the world. It also has the largest collection of photos on the web, surpassing such image-based sites as Flickr. In the US, it is the seventh most visited site.

During a recent court date, Judge Douglass Woodlock delayed dismissing the case against Mark Zuckergberg giving Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss two weeks to bring additional witness testimony or evidence to the court. According to Judge Woodlock, the Winklevoss' case will be decided on August 8^th and if nothing changes, Mark Zuckerberg will continue to grow Facebook while Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss will continue their uphill battle trying to make ConnectU.com a relevant social networking community.