Facebook Pulls “Find Friends Nearby” Program Following Lawsuit Threat

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Find Friends NearbyFacebook on Tuesday morning announced that it has pulled its new “Find Friends Nearby” feature. The company called the release of the option a “test” but its decision to remove the option was clearly a result of lawsuit threats made by the develop of mobile app Friendthem. 

First known as “Friendshake” the “Find Friends Nearby” feature was said to have been created by Facebook engineers during a recent hackathon, however Friendthem CEO Charles Sankowich claims he told Facebook executives about his company’s own friend finding option months ago.   [Read more…]

FriendThem Threatens Facebook With Lawsuit Over “Find Friends Nearby” Feature

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FriendThem AppFriendThem CEO Charles Sankowich is preparing a lawsuit against Facebook after what he claims was the outright theft of his “Find Friends Nearby” feature.

According to the CEO he spoke with senior Facebook executives about his idea in February 2012. The premise is simple, use GPS signals to track friends and potentially make new friends in nearby locations.

After his dinner with Facebook executives Sankowich says one executive said “I really like this idea.”

Now Facebook is claiming that an employee at the company just happened upon the same premise during a Facebook hackathon. According to a Facebook friend the program at the time was called “Friendshake.”

Sankowich tells Mashable:

“They have to know about Friendthem unless they’ve had their heads in the sand. We’re relevant, we’re necessary and we’re fun.”

Friendthem is available for iOS and Android platforms and allows users to choose what information they share such as their name, profile information, hometown and other info. [Read more…]