Facebook Inc Mark Zuckerberg To Face A Lawsuit

Facebook founder faces trial over fraud in a real estate case in Palo Alto.

The chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., Mark Zuckerberg, is likely to face a trial that encompasses fraud charges regarding real estate close to his residence at Palo Alto. The case material was acquired by a reputable analytics platform, where Mr. Zuckerberg used his influence to slash the price of the property. Moreover, he bought the property and later breached the contract details. Mr. Mircea Voskerician is said to be the plaintiff of the lawsuit who is a known name in the real estate world of Palo Alto. The job of Mr. Voskerician is to buy the local property, modify it, and later sell it to buyers and sellers locally. Currently the property in question is Hamilton Avenue that was under his ownership. This property is sharing the boundaries with Facebook’s executive’s house along with an extra 2600 sq. feet. Like a good neighbor, when the expansion plan was being carried out, he asked the social media giant to give an explanation. Later he even asked to sell the property to him. When a realtor approached the real estate giant, he was immediately offered to sell out the space to Mr. Zuckerberg along with the remaining property. Mr. voskerician did not respond immediately but took time to consider the offer. During this time, another party approached the developer and offered to buy the property for $4.3 million. However, social network’s founder made an offer of only $1.7 million, which was far below the offer made by the other party. Now he started to use his sources to pressurize the developer. The deal was done and the property belongs to the Facebook's CEO. Soon after the expansion continued and all the properties in the local area were bought by Mr. Zuckerberg to ensure his privacy but the promises with the developer were never fulfilled. According to Mr. Divesh Makan, his financial advisor, stated, “it would be wherever [Zuckerberg] wants though the [Facebook] office is ideal. We are trying to “wow” these schmucks so they will accept an offer for the home that is reasonable. The plan is to have [Zuckerberg] spend 15 minutes with them, make them feel special, etc. Perhaps you can prepare two goody bags as well.” No response has been observed from the plaintiff and rumors suggest that the Mr. Voskerician’s lawyer has resigned from the case due to personal conflicts. The case is likely to be moved to another day.

Bidness ETC - Following Nepal Earthquake, Facebook Introduces Safety Check Feature In Full Force

Pundits applaud Facebook’s most useful and significant feature, months after several testings made it come out as a winner.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) has announced the deployment of its “Safety Check” application, in the wake of the Nepal earthquake that has left thousands dead (and still counting) and leaving many injured, destroying historical buildings and infrastructure in the process, making it difficult for aid workers to access the affected area.

Urgent attention is the need of many loved ones still trapped, especially foreigners who use Nepal as a passageway to reach the highest summit of Mount Everest. Facebook’s safety feature allows a user to convey the message in their Facebook newsfeed to inform their loved ones that they are safe from any natural disaster that has occurred within their surroundings. The CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, rightly points out, “It is moments like this that being able to connect really matters.”

Many pundits have heaped praise on the social media giant’s initiative as the most useful and significant to date. The mechanism of the feature works in a unique manner. Based on the security feature, users within the vicinity or around the neighborhood of the disaster will receive a notification whether they are safe or not. Facebook will then pinpoint their location and verify the information based on the user’s residential address, recent visits, and recent use of the Internet. Then two options will be introduced; one “I’m safe” or “I’m not in the affected area”. When one of the answers is selected, that answer will show on the News Feed.

Likewise, if someone wants to be sure of their friend’s safety, then they can check the status on a designated Safety Check Page, by pointing out the number of friends in the affected area.

The question remains that what actually prompted, if not inspired, the company to come up with this feature, since there is an element of social dimension to this. The social media giant came up with this unique and novel feature after the Japanese Tsunami in 2011. The idea among many strategists is that people used to keep in touch with their loved ones through social media and technology, giving latest news and status about the well-being of affected families or those indirectly affected by it.

In March this year, the company put its Safety Check to test once again after Cyclone Pam stormed the Southern Pacific, and the results were astounding. It reported that over a quarter of a million people used the service to search about the safety of their loved ones. Thus, it is hoped that this feature will provide a peace of mind to many victims and people who are affected by the disaster, one way or the other, to let them be known if they are safe or not.

Facebook’s stock price ended the day at $81.86, a gain of 0.01%.

Bidness Etc - Oculus To be Launched In 2015 By Facebook

The social media company is all set to launch its virtual reality product in the upcoming months

The most talked about gadget of the year seems to be the one Facebook is currently working on the Oculus Rift. It has been announced by the social media company that this new product that the firm has been working on for quite some time will be launched by the end of the current financial year 2015. Mark Zuckerberg, who is the CEO of the tech giant, was seen declaring that the company is all set to start the sales of their upcoming project which is all ready to hit the stores.

Oculus Rift is a product that is solely based on virtual reality technology. Zuckerberg was seen talking about the product at the F8 Conference held by Facebook every year for tech and software experts. The main concern of investors, however, is whether this new venture of the company is going to prove fruitful for the social media network company or not.

Mike Schroepfer, who the CTO of Facebook, talked about the most anticipated product of the year at the F8 and tried to satisfy investors and customers alike. He was seen talking about a game that was discussed at the conference and he said that Oculus will help play that particular game in a better way. Analysts who were closely watching the steps of the company are of the opinion that the launch of the new product might be scheduled for an earlier date rather than what everyone believes it to be which means that the Rift might end up getting launched in the middle of the year as well.

Tech analysts were also seen discussing how Facebook is a social media networking platform and for some entity like that to come up with a virtual reality product like that seems rather unlikely. The company has a virtual reality past in which the media firm was seen fiddling with the Farmville project. Thus, for a company like that to come up with an actual VR product is quite amusing in the eyes of the tech analysts.

For Facebook, this new product is not just another experiment but the company seems rather serious about it. The company’s plans to penetrate properly into the market with this venture are all decided and all it now needs to do is figure out how to make money out of this project and keep the investors as happy as ever.

However, according to what Zuckerberg said in the press conference, the media company will be looking towards developing itself in the VR field for the first year and it will think about making money out of it after that.

Bidness Etc - Facebook Simplifies Legislations Regarding Banned Explicit Content

Facebook has outlined rules regarding banned content in order to make the platform safer.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) the social media giant has been working on its strategies to counter the propagation of explicit content from its website. The initiate is on par with the companies aim to combat posts that are controversial in nature. The company seeks to curb its support for nudity and militant organizations without rupturing its status as an organization that allows users to connect with the masses globally.

Facebook has decided to modify its community standards where they have provided certain examples of content that will not be published on Facebook. Hence, Facebook will no longer entertain any content that propagates threats, hatred, and criminal related activities.

Facebook has restricted such groups which promote criminal activities on its platform. These groups cannot access the platform to promote their message. However, the company has now decided to eliminate any such posts that side such organizations.

Revenge porn which basically means anything that is shared without the users consent or in vengeance will also be forbidden from the platform. However, nude paintings and sculptures, women nursing their infants and other similar images will be allowed whatsoever.

This initiate is on par with the company’s decision to combat sexual harassment or bullying through its platform. Previously, users have complained about privacy related issues through social media platform. This will allow them to settle down and eliminate to a great extent.

“Having a voice is not some absolute state. It’s not the case that you either have a voice or you don’t,” reported the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg believes that the social media giant is not modifying its standards and policies but is working towards a healthier environment by instilling guidance.

“People rightfully want to know what content we will take down, what controversial content we'll leave up, and why,” Zuckerberg stated.

Facebook is an independent channel that does not cater to violence. The company seeks to facilitate the interest of their users which is only possible by providing them a safer gateway to connectivity.

The company will not cater to extremism of any form or provide a platform for extremist organizations to promote their message through them. These legislations will be implemented for all users irrespective of the agenda they seek to cater.

Hence, Facebook has taken a wise step to overcoming nudity and explicit content. However, many similar initiates were taken earlier to combat such issues but they didn’t prove to be of much use. The problem with such platforms is that the user base is so massive that it becomes extremely hard to scrutinize the content and readily propagate it.