Scrabulous At Risk? Zynga $10 million VC Game: Facebook Roulette
Facebook has been asked to remove the Scrabulous game from its Website by the owners of the Scrabble trademark, Hasbro and Mattel, on the grounds of intellectual property theft.
REALLY? Mark Zuckerberg giddily shared on 60 Minutes Sunday that he plays Scrabble, on Facebook. OOPS! Zuckerberg also confided he couldn’t be bothered worrying about a lawsuit claiming the foundations of Facebook are fraudulent, “The Facebook” lifted from Harvard classmates. Facebook has lawyers to contend with such matters, the 23 year old CEO of a $15 billion valued Facebook scoffed. TWO bad Facebook PR-Zuckerberg 60 minutes moves?
Facebook’s lawyers are busy today, thanks to Zuckerberg playing so much Scrabble on Facebook! Even 60 Minute’s Lesley Stahl got on board the wrong Facebook Scrabble boat!
Stahl’s fawning over “savvy, mogul” Zuckerberg included hailing that he his ”Inviting everyone on the site to create new software” for Facebook. The 60 Minutes - Stahl - Zuckerberg - Facebook problem though is that Stahl herself vilolated Facebook’s own third party software edicts.
60 Minutes reveled over “Facebook Scrabble, which Zuckerberg demonstrated playing. Zuckerberg is apparently unaware of his own harsh F8 rules! Facebook warns developers, under penalty of immediate expulsion, that the proper terminology for F8 applications is “built on” or “using” Facebook Platform, certainly NOT “Facebook Scrabble.”
I wrote way back in September, 2007: Why Facebook Platform is Risky Business and Startups: Why Facebook Platform is a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
I also warned: Facebook: The Web’s Golden Handcuffs
Nevertheless, Web 2.0 VC standard bearers are throwing $10 million caution to the wind and heeding the “Internet court jester”’s advice to “Throw out your development, go use Facebook.” WHY, though? Because “It doesn’t matter if you are “better,” what matters is that you are “standard,” Esther Dyson gushed about Zuckerberg’s F8 upon its unveiling to the world.
BUT, is piggybacking on someone else’s property REALLY a bankable business model. HEY, who even needs a solid business model at the time of a Web 2.0 investment, as we are repeatedly reminded by blogger VCs.
The Scrabulous team is piggybacking on the businesses of TWO other businesses: Scrabble and Facebook.
How about the newly $10 million funded Zynga? Investor Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures, boasts “When you take a casual game and stick it inside a social network, it becomes way more exciting. This is like pouring gasoline on fire.”
BUT, is Wilson being too casual with Union Square Ventures’ money? After all, Zynga’s all-in bet on Facebook could blow up in smoke!
The Mark Pincus founded Zynga claims it is “the largerst social gaming network on the Web.” REALLY? All nine games it soilicits people to play at the Zynga website have another social network’s URL on them: Facebook.
Want to play Zynga Scramble? Go to apps.facebook.com/scramblegame. How about Zynga Blackjack? Go to apps.facebook.com/black-jack. Etc, etc…
Zynga believies it has immunized itself from game infringement claims by scrambling its game names. Perhaps. Zynga’s Facebook dependency looms large, however. Just ask Facebook:
We do our absolute best to keep Facebook Platform up and bug-free, but you use it at your own risk.
You must get signoff from us before releasing any formal press releases.
We reserve the right to charge a fee for using Facebook Platform and/or any individual features thereof at any time in our sole discretion.
Facebook may be independently creating Applications, content and other products or services that may be similar to your Facebook Platform Applications.
Zynga and $10 million VC team undoubtedly believe they have a powerful, incestuous secret Facebook weapon at their disposal: Cross shareholders Pincus, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman.
Facebook ownership may very well change, however, as well as F8 terms of service.
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ALSO: Henry Blodget Braces For ‘Harder Times’: Silicon Alley Insider ‘Screwed’? and MySpace, Facebook Rule: Does Multiply.com Want To ‘Sell Out’? and AP On LinkedIn: Social Networking Gold Mine at $5 per User? and Why Zynga, NOT Scrabulous, Has a Lucky Facebook Charm