If you rob a bank and are on the run, it’s probably not wise to post your where bouts or befriend a former Justice Department official on Facebook. Take your lesson from Maxi Sopo, the 26 year old native of Cameroon. Sopo arrived in the US during 2003 and mostly spent his time selling roses at night clubs around the Seattle area. Maybe he was bored, or just struggling like the average American, when he took his idea of income to the next level.
Sopo and his accomplice, Edward Asatoorians, plotted a grand scheme! They convinced further accomplices to lie about their income in order to obtain loans for fake auto purchases. In turn, they pumped the funds into Asatoorians’ business and took an over the top trip to Vegas. From there Sopo rented a car and crossed the Mexican border. Sopo and his accomplice are said to have obtained more than $200,000 from their robbery.
Once Sopo got comfy in Mexico he joined Facebook and began updating his status. He posted updates like “LIFE IS VERY SIMPLE REALLY!!!!” (June 21st), “BUT SOME OF US HUMANS MAKE A MESS OF IT…REMEMBER AM JUST HERE TO HAVE FUN PARTEEEEEEE.” He mentioned in his status that he was “loving it” and “living in paradise.” At this point he might as well have emailed the FBI personally and said “catch me if you can”. Wait, it gets even better!
Sopo befriended a former Justice Department official while at a club in Cancun and proceeded to send him a friend request. For a while the FBI had been surfing all the social networks and could not pin point his exact location in Mexico until Sopo slipped up so foolishly. It wasn’t long before Secret Service agent Seth Reeg requested a phone call with the former official. It turns out Sopo has been living in a nice apartment while working at a local hotel. Sopo was arrested last month and could face up to 30 years behind bars.
Facebook is being sued, yet again, for patent issues. It seems that Phoenix Media/Communications feels that Facebook is violating a patent that relates to setting up online personal pages. A division of the company’s People2People Group, named Tele-Publishing, filed their complaint in the US District Court, located in Boston, last Wednesday.
It is presently unclear as to what damages Phoenix is seeking. They are claiming that Facebook’s computer network and process in creating personal pages are covered by one or more patent’s issued by the USPTO in June of 2001. They allege that the patent includes an online template and graphics for the use of building a personal page. It also providers users with a secure way of sharing their personal information with other computer networks. Facebook has fired back saying its ‘without merit and will be fought vigorously’.
Could it be surprising or merely a new trend when addressing the amount of lawsuits that Facebook has been up against for patents? On top of dealing with other current lawsuits, Facebook can now add another one to their counter clock! According to Bloomberg the Tokyo based company, Mekiki, has claimed that Facebook is infringing upon three patents in regard to a human relationships registering system. Mekiki is pushing for royalty rights and a court order to furthermore prevent Facebook’s use of their creation. The Tokyo based company filed their suit in a federal court located in Wilmington, Delaware. Facebook has not yet commented on this accusation.
Jack Thompson, a well known critic of the video game industry, is suing Facebook for $40M, claiming that the social networking site harmed him by not removing angry postings made by Facebook gamers. He filed a claim last Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Thompson is known for brining a suit against the makers of the video game Grand Theft Auto, as well as Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Wal-Mart. In the suit he argued that Grand Theft Auto caused violent behavior. Following the suits dismissal, Thompson’s critics have accused him of being a frivolous lawyer.
