Winklevoss twins end Facebook row

23 June 2011 Last updated at 09:59 GMT The Winklevosses say Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for a social network site The Winklevoss brothers, Harvard contemporaries of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, have ended their legal battle with the social network.

They reached a $65m (?41m) settlement in 2008, after claiming that Mr Zuckerberg stole their idea.

The legal spat was immortalised in the film "The Social Network".

In January they attempted to reopen the case, claiming that they should have received more shares than the $45m they agreed on.

They sought to undo the settlement of $20m in cash and $45m in stock - now worth more than $100m.

A US appeals court ruled in April that they could not back out of the deal.

The pair had threatened to go to US Supreme Court to overturn the decision but have now said they will not pursue it.

They offered no statement on what had prompted their decision to abandon the suit.

The twins originally argued that Mr Zuckerberg had stolen their idea after he was hired by them to code their ConnectU site in 2003.

Facebook has always rejected the claims but agreed to the 2008 settlement to end what it called "rancorous litigation".

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Facebook attacks 'fake' contract

2 June 2011 Last updated at 18:39 GMT Mr Zuckerberg started Facebook in 2004 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has said that an alleged contract and e-mails that a New York man claims entitle him to a 50% stake in the social networking site are "forgeries".

Paul Ceglia says that Mr Zuckerberg signed a contract in 2003 which gave Mr Ceglia half-ownership of Facebook.

In a court filing, Facebook and Mr Zuckerberg demand that Mr Ceglia turn over the alleged contract and e-mails.

Lawyers representing Mr Ceglia disputed Facebook's claims.

"Those so-called expert opinions have been provided without examining the actual contract which is at issue in the case," said Dennis C Vacco, who is one of Mr Ceglia's attorneys.

'Cut-and-paste job'

In a filing made at the US District Court in Buffalo, Mr Zuckerberg said he provided web development services in 2003 for StreetFax, a business Mr Ceglia was trying to start at the time.

He said he signed a contract drafted by Mr Ceglia, a wood pellet salesman, which referred only to the work he did for StreetFax.

"Zuckerberg and Ceglia never discussed Facebook and they never signed a contract concerning Facebook," the filing said.

"The contract is a cut-and-paste job, the e-mails are complete fabrications, and this entire lawsuit is a fraud."

Facebook and Mr Zuckerberg hope to use forensic testing to show that the documents are fakes.

Facebook is privately owned but estimates of its worth range between $50bn (?30bn) and $76.4bn (?46.7bn).

Twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss also claimed that Mr Zuckerberg stole their website idea while they were all students at Harvard.

In 2008 they reached a settlement which gave them $20m in cash and $45m of stock valued at $36 a share.

They have since unsuccessfully tried to reopen their case against Facebook, claiming that the company concealed information and they should have received more shares.

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