Guy Creates an App That Lets People Take Breaks From Facebook. Facebook Sends Cease and Desist Letter to Him
Oct 23, 2013 23:33
Cody Romano developed an app that allows users to take breaks from their Facebook accounts. Facebook isn't very happy about that.
The social network's legal counsel sent Romano a cease and desist email earlier this week, insinuating that Facebook could extract a fine of $100,000 from him for creating a tool called "Break Your Facebook."
Facebook sent Romano this letter (click on the image to make it larger), alleging he is using the trademark "Facebook" improperly, and ordering him to stop.
This is how it works:
You decide how long you’d like to stop using Facebook. My app randomly generates a secure password. You use the new password for Facebook without saving or memorizing it. Next, you get a secure link, which will remind you of your password on the date of your choice. On that date, you will be able to log back into Facebook.
"I don’t know enough about intellectual property law to determine if a judge would agree that my small side project constitutes fair use," Romano wrote on his blog. "But I do know that I will have to break my app and let the domain die (without selling it) because I don’t want to contend with Facebook’s endless legal resources."
The social network's legal counsel sent Romano a cease and desist email earlier this week, insinuating that Facebook could extract a fine of $100,000 from him for creating a tool called "Break Your Facebook."
Facebook sent Romano this letter (click on the image to make it larger), alleging he is using the trademark "Facebook" improperly, and ordering him to stop.
This is how it works:
You decide how long you’d like to stop using Facebook. My app randomly generates a secure password. You use the new password for Facebook without saving or memorizing it. Next, you get a secure link, which will remind you of your password on the date of your choice. On that date, you will be able to log back into Facebook.
"I don’t know enough about intellectual property law to determine if a judge would agree that my small side project constitutes fair use," Romano wrote on his blog. "But I do know that I will have to break my app and let the domain die (without selling it) because I don’t want to contend with Facebook’s endless legal resources."
