U.S. Judge Gives Go-Ahead for Potential Lawsuits Against Facebook

By Rob Scott
December 20, 2011

Facebook “can be sued by people who claim showing advertisements that their friends ‘like’ violates a California law regarding commercial endorsements,” reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose has cleared the way for Facebook users to sue the social network over its use of their likenesses in sponsored ads.
The case centers on claims regarding sponsored stories, which use the names and profile photos of users who have “liked” a given brand.
The judge ruled that plaintiffs could claim they had been economically harmed by the ads, but tossed out a claim that Facebook had unfairly profited from the ads.
“We are reviewing the decision and continue to believe that the case is without merit,” wrote a Facebook spokesman in an e-mailed statement.

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