Facebook ownership lawsuit: Another lawyer leaves

SAN FRANCISCO: The New York man claiming half of Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg's lucrative stake in the world's largest social networking company is replacing his main lawyer for a third time, a court filing showed.

Paul Ceglia, the plaintiff, asked US Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio in Buffalo, New York to delay his case for three weeks after allowing his lead lawyer, Jeffrey Lake, to withdraw from the case.

According to the Monday evening filing, Lake said Ceglia is in the "final stages" of obtaining a new lawyer, and is in talks with "several" lawyers who are "diligently coming up to speed with the facts and proceedings" to represent him.

Paul Argentieri, another lawyer for Ceglia, will remain on the case, Monday's filing showed. Lake did not give a reason for his withdrawal.

A call to Lake's office in San Diego was not answered, and Lake did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. Argentieri did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Facebook declined to comment.

The filing marks the latest twist in a year-old case over the authenticity of a 2003 contract under which Ceglia said he hired Zuckerberg, then a Harvard University freshman, for multiple projects, one of which eventually became Facebook.

The company calls that contract a forgery, and said an "authentic" contract found on Ceglia's computer does not concern Facebook.

Lake withdrew after Facebook asked Foschio to punish Ceglia and his lawyers for their failure to turn over email accounts and passwords, as the judge had directed in an August 18 order.

In an October 7 court filing, Lake had written that he had told Ceglia about the order, but that "Mr. Ceglia instructed me not to comply with this provision" and to raise the issue before a different judge.

A week later, Facebook said Ceglia's lawyers had a duty to resist their client's alleged effort to break the law, and might have violated state ethics rules by revealing what he said in an effort to protect themselves.

"If they fail to persuade their client to change direction, their proper course is to withdraw," Facebook lawyers wrote.

Lake had in June replaced the law firm DLA Piper as Ceglia's counsel. That firm previously replaced a different lawyer.

Earlier on Monday, Foschio had scheduled a November 2 hearing to consider whether to force Ceglia to comply with his August 18 order, which also gave Facebook access to computers and files and required Ceglia to describe the content of missing materials. That timetable is now in doubt.

Facebook is based in Palo Alto, California, and may be worth $68.2 billion, according to SharesPost Inc, which tracks valuations of private companies.

Many analysts expect Facebook to conduct an initial public offering as soon as next year. Zuckerberg is worth $17.5 billion, Forbes magazine said last month.

Ceglia is a wood pellet salesman from Wellsville, New York, and now reported to be living inIreland.

The case is Ceglia v. Zuckerberg et al, US District Court, Western District of New York, No 10-00569.

Insurance company told to pay Rs 5 lakh

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 16
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Life Insurance Corporation zonal office to pay Rs 5 lakh to the complainant along with Rs 5,000 as costs of litigation.
The forum comprising Sashi Prabha Aggarwal, president, Sher Singh Sidhu and Veena Chahal, members, stated that complainant Pawan Kumar, a resident of Manela village, had got his minor son Udesh insured with the LIC on August 4, 2010, vide policy number 153840846 for a sum of Rs 5 lakh and deposited Rs 15,494/ vide receipt number 2107482 dated August 4, 2010, as per terms and conditions, the amount was to be realised either on the date of maturity of the policy or on the death of the person insured, which ever occurred earlier. Unfortunately, the son of the complainant died on August 7, 2010, and the complainant requested the LIC to release the amount, but they kept putting off the matter.
The LIC in its reply stated that the policy was issued under table 75 to 20. The date of issuance was August 4, 2010, and date of maturity was August 4, 2030. The policy holder was minor. The LIC said on August 6,2010, his father gave an application that the terms and conditions were not acceptable, so the policy was cancelled and premium was refunded through cheque number 119118 dated August 30, 2010, as such the policy had been cancelled.
The court said the documents placed on record showed that the opposite party had written the letter to cancel the policy instead of giving the claim to the complainant. “The affidavit of the complainant shows that he has not written the letter and he has not received the premium from the opposite party. It shows deficiency in service on the part of opposite party as the complainant has purchased the policy on August 4, 2010, and his son expired on August 7, 2010, therefore the LIC is liable to pay the policy amount of Rs 5 lakh to the complainant,” the forum observed.

Housewife sends rivals obscene MMS clips, held

MUMBAI: The Mumbai cyber police arrested a 37-year-old Malad housewife for sending obscene and threatening MMS clips to two members of her housing society with whom she had some disagreements. Accused Nita Ashley D'Mello has been charged under the Information Technology Act and has been remanded in police custody till October 15.

The cyber police have launched a hunt for Nita's friend Mahesh Biyani, who had approached the Bombay high court seeking anticipatory bail. Sources said the court had directed cyber cell cops to give Biyani 72 hours' notice before arresting him.

The police said the complaint was filed by Awril Serav and Gajanand Bhardwaj, residents of Bhoomi Park on Marve Road. In May, Serav and Bhardwaj had approached the police as they were receiving obscene clips and threatening SMSes from some number and through internet services. The case was transferred to the cyber police, who realized that the messages were sent via bulk services and email accounts belonging to Advita Communication. The police traced its IP address to Ahmednagar and found that it was owned by Biyani. Investigations revealed that Biyani was in touch with D'Mello, a resident of the society where the two complainants stayed. "There was infighting among society members, and the complainants had supported the secretary, Gunjan, who had a personal grudge against Nita," an officer said.

The police believe that Nita had told Biyani to send the messages. Sources said Nita and Gunjan had a fight after the latter passed lewd comments about her hair when society members had gone for a picnic to Lonavla.

Skilled Indians may have to wait for 70 years for Green Card

WASHINGTON: Professionally qualified Indians may have to wait as long as 70 years to get their Green Card in the US, a new study has said, amid growing concerns that the current country-specific quota policy poses a major hurdle in attracting talent from countries like India and China.

"Our system for allowing employers to sponsor skilled foreign nationals for permanent residence (a green card) is plagued by inadequate quotas that result in years of waiting and frustration," the Washington-based National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) said in a report.

An October 2011 NFAP study analysed the employment- based green card backlog and produced findings that should give pause to policymakers.

The study concluded: "A highly skilled Indian national sponsored today for an employment-based immigrant visa in the 3rd preference could wait potentially 70 years to receive a green card."

Many skilled foreign nationals from China have been waiting 6 to 7 years and can expect to wait additional years, it said.

In the EB-2 category, second employment-based preference, skilled foreign nationals from India and China may wait six years or more, the study said.

"The two factors that have caused the long waits for employment-based green cards are: the 140,000 annual quota, which is too low, and the per country limit on employment- based preference categories, which restricts the annual number of green cards for immigrants from one country to 7 per cent of the total. This, the NFAP analysis noted, means that skilled foreign nationals from India and China, who make up most of the applications, wait years longer than nationals of other countries.

A number of lawmakers, policy makers and politicians here have been demanding removing this country-specific cap on the Green Card as well as on H-1B category of visas.

"We must stop telling American companies that they cannot hire the high-skilled workers they need.

By making it difficult for them to obtain temporary and permanent visas for high-skilled workers, the federal government is slowing growth and worse, promoting the outsourcing of American jobs," New York Mayor, Michele Bloomberg, said early this year.

"Caps on green cards are set by countries, so Iceland actually gets the same number of visas as India. That may be fair to those two countries, but it's certainly not fair to American business and to Americans," Bloomberg said.

"We should end these arbitrary limits and end the cap on the high-skilled H1-B visas. Let the marketplace decide. It's basic free-market economics, and both parties ought to be able to get behind it," he had said.

Consumer Courts

Car dealer, insurance firm told to pay Rs 3.68 lakh 

Mohali, October 14
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed a car dealer and an insurance company to pay Rs 3.68 lakh in compensation to a Chandigarh resident for deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
In an order, forum president BS Mehandiratta directed Harman Motors, Industrial Area, Phase VII, and United India Insurance Company Limited, Sector 35, Chandigarh, to jointly and severally reimburse to the complainant an amount of Rs 1.2 lakh with interest thereon at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of receipt till the date of actual payment.
Besides, the insurance company has been directed to reimburse the total insured value of the car i.e. Rs 2.48 lakh with interest thereon at the rate of 9 per cent per annum with effect from the date of institution of the complaint till the date of actual payment.
The complainant has been told to return the car to the insurance company on the receipt of the awarded amount.
Both opposite parties have also been directed to pay Rs 3,000 each towards the costs of litigation.
In his complaint, Balwinder Singh, a resident of Sector 47, Chandigarh, had claimed that his Indica car was insured with United India Insurance Company for Rs 2.48 lakh. The car met with an accident in November last year.
The insurance company was informed about the accident and it deputed its surveyor for the assessment of loss. He inspected the car at the complainant’s residence. On his instructions, the complainant removed the vehicle to the workshop of Harman Motors for repairs and was assured that the repair would be done within 20-25 days.
However, in spite of his repeated demand, the opposite party did not deliver the estimated costs of repairs till a complaint was filed.
The complainant alleged that on inspection of the car, he found that instead of replacing its damaged shell with a new one, it was replaced with an old one.
Some parts were also replaced with old ones.
Harman Motors, however, denied the allegation of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
It stated that the complaint involved complicated questions which could be decided only by a civil court.
It had also pleaded that it was just an agent of the insurance company, which was to instruct it regarding action to be taken with regard to the damaged car and the extent of repairs involved and the parts required to be changed. It denied having given an assurance of delivery of the car after repairs within 20-25 days. Harman Motors further pleaded that the shell of the car was fully damaged during the accident. However, the claim for its repair was not sanctioned by the insurance company as it was not within the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. Therefore, the complainant made a request to change the shell by replacing the same with a secondhand one.
United India Insurance, in its statement, pleaded that the complaint against it was without cause of action, there was no deficiency in service on its part and there were no allegations against it.

RK Sharma sees scope for prison reforms

 Panchkula, October 14
IPS officer RK Sharma, who was acquitted in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case by the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, said there was a big scope for prison reforms in the country. He would pen a book based on his experiences during his imprisonment for over nine years in the Tihar Jail, he added.
Sharma, after his release from the jail, reached his home in Sector 6 last night.
“I thank God for I am back with my family, especially my wife Madhu to celebrate Karva Chauth after missing out on it for the past nine years,” he said. “I always had faith in the country’s judicial system and the court has given me my life back again.”
“I have seen a different India during my term in the jail and I am a different person now,” he said.
His wife said they would now arrange a big family get-together to celebrate Diwali later this month.

High Court dismisses CMC appeal on admission norms

Chandigarh, October 14
In yet another setback to Ludhiana-based Christian Medical College, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed its appeal against the orders quashing the part of the prospectus requiring a Christian candidate to obtain a mandatory sponsorship letter as a pre-condition to admission.
Dismissing the appeal, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh ruled: “We express our agreement with the view that there cannot be micro classification within the same class.
“Once a person is proved to be a Christian by passing the Bible test and producing a baptism certificate, the proof that he belongs to the Christian community stands furnished.
“To say that he must produce a sponsorship letter from sponsoring body/church duly signed by an authorised signatory would be wholly unreasonable, unfair and capricious.”
The case has its genesis in a petition filed before a Single Judge by Joel D Masih against Baba Farid University of Health Science and other respondents.
In his petition, Joel, a candidate for admission to the MBBS course offered by the CMC in the category of “Christian Minority Punjab candidates ” had sought the quashing of clause 11(a) of the prospectus.
He had said the clause required a “Christian candidate to obtain the mandatory sponsorship letter from sponsoring bodies/churches, referred to in the prospectus ”.
Taking up the matter, Justice Rajive Bhalla had asserted: “By requiring a candidate to obtain a sponsorship letter from named churches/bodies as a pre-condition to admission, the respondents have conferred the power to render ineligible a candidate otherwise eligible and duly qualified?.
“The condition requiring a candidate to obtain a sponsorship letter, in my considered opinion, imposes an eligibility condition, that does not stand the test of fairness, is arbitrary, exploitative and, therefore, cannot form part of the eligibility criteria.”