Facebook-baiting Winklevoss twins finally give up... or not

Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook.com) By Richi Jennings (@richi) - June 23, 2011.

Mark Zuckerberg's archnemeses, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss -- who claim to have invented Facebook -- have finally admitted defeat. They've given up in their quest to have the Supreme Court rule that Facebook pulled the wool over their eyes in the 2008 settlement. But now they've found some other reason to sue Facebook. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers roll their eyes.

Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Vi Hart, proving Pythagoras using origami...

John Ribeiro reports:

The twins, who claimed that they ... not Zuckerberg, came up with the idea ... settled in 2008 ... [for] US$65 million ... [but] subsequently ... said they were misled by Facebook about the value of the company.
...
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and ... Divya Narendra ... said in a filing through their lawyers ... that "after careful consideration" they would not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. ... [They] did not give a reason for deciding not to appeal.   M0RE


Emil Protalinski snorks:

Last month, Jerome Falk Jr., the twin’s attorney, said they would appeal ... to the United States Supreme Court ... the last possible option. ... Zuckerberg can breathe easy now, and his enemies have to deal with the terrible tragedy of figuring out how to spend $65 million.   M0RE


Alexia Tsotsis posits that it's now worth much more:

After vowing that they would challenge [the] ruling by the 9th Circuit Court and take their case ... to the Supreme Court ... the Winklevosses have just given up. ... Meaning they will take the original settlement, which is ... now worth considerably more than $65 million.
...
In 2004 [they] accused Facebook CEO and fellow student ... Zuckerberg of ripping off their CONNECTU idea. ... Facebook’s reaction ... “We’ve considered this case closed for a long time, and we’re pleased to see the other party now agrees.”   M0RE


Frank Watson counts on his fingers:

The settlement was $20 million in cash and $45 million in ... stock. ... I guess the increased value of that stock may have [influenced] the decision; [it] could be worth over $200 million.   M0RE


Mike Masnick dishes:

[In] their case ... they complain about how they settled for "only" $160 million for building a company that ... wasn't very popular. ... I'm not sure who ... but it appears that someone finally sat them down and explained to them how the Supreme Court works ... and it's finally dawned on them that this would be a good time to take the money ... and say, "thank you."   M0RE


Hang on a minute; Jessica Guynn thinks we're missing a trick:

The Winklevosses ... still plan to pursue another legal tack.
...
In April, they asked a federal court ... to look into their claims that Facebook ... hid instant messages from them. ... That request had been suspended. ... "That part of the case will begin now," said ... the Winklevosses' attorney.   M0RE

Vi Hart, proving Pythagoras using origami


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Richi Jennings, your humble blogwatcherRichi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. He's the creator and main author of Computerworld's IT Blogwatch -- for which he has won American Society of Business Publication Editors and Jesse H. Neal awards on behalf of Computerworld. He also writes The Long View for IDG Enterprise. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com. You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

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