Facebook copies an app. Italian and the sentence arrives
For the first time the Colossus by Zuckerberg was convicted in Italy for unfair competition and copyright infringement.
With sentence no. 9549 of 1 August 2016, the Section Specialized in the field of Business of the Court of Milan has ascertained the liability of the companies Facebook Srl, Facebook Inc. and Facebook Ireland LTD for acts of unfair competition against Business Competence Srl. and for violations of copyright on the database represented by the application "Faround"Of the same Business Competence Srl
With this ruling, the Court of Milan prohibited the three companies of the Facebook group from any further use of the application called "Nearby”For the Italian territory and ordered the publication of the provision in the two national newspapers,“ Corriere della Sera ”and“ Il Sole 24 Ore ”and, for at least fifteen days, on the home page of the Facebook website.
The sentence, not yet final, was challenged by Facebook before the Court of Appeal of Milan.
For this the Italian users of Facebook, very soon, they may no longer find the functionality "Nearby" or "Friends nearby“, Within the application of the social network.
Nearby is that feature that can allow, if activated, to find out which friends contacts are closest to your position thanks to the use of the GPS present in your device.
The story dates back to 2012 when the Italian startup, Business Competence Srl, submitted to Facebook for his approval an app called Faround.
Zuckerberg's company, however, he never replied to Business Competence and indeed, a few months later he formalized the introduction of the Nearby function, which offered the same functions as the App. of the Italian company, that is, to identify friends in the vicinity.
The Court of Milan not only recognized the rights of Business Competence, but also ordered the social network to remove the Nearby application within the Italian territory.
Next April 4th in Milan, before the first Civil Court of Appeal, the second degree case on the merits will be held against the companies of the group Facebook who, while respecting and adhering to the provisions of the judicial authority, appealed, arguing that the disputed is without foundation.
Nearby it is not among the most used functions of the social network and, probably, before this case became known, not everyone knew it but, surely, there will be those who will suffer from having been deprived of the function.
