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Is Facebook a Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

Posted by on 31 July 2008
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The largest social networking site, Facebook, maybe facing a lawsuit from another social network called Multiply. Multiply has accused Facebook of copying some of the design elements as well as features. Representatives from Multiply sent an e-mail to ReadWriteWeb, that was posted in this article, offering up their reasons for the accusations

"Multiply launched its proprietary newsfeed in August of 2004, when the site launched. Two years later, Facebook introduced a similar, yet more basic, news feed for its users. Blogging, one of Multiply's core features since launch, was introduced to Facebook more than 20 months later, and video sharing, a Multiply feature since June 2005, was introduced on Facebook nearly 16 months later. In September 2004, Multiply introduced photo printing services for its users, something that Facebook implemented two years later. In its most recent enhancement, "New Facebook" features several changes - both aesthetically and functionally - that make Facebook look and feel even more like Multiply."
Another interesting point is that currently Facebook is involved in a law suit against a German social networking site called StudiVZ over the same issues that Multiply has mentioned.
ReadWriteWeb has questioned whether or not Multiply is just using this as a publicity stunt to gain more users, or is just simply upset that they don't have as many users and feel that they have a better site. What is your opinion, and do you think that Multiply has a valid argument?

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