Facebook Sues Faceporn, Says It Tarnishes Brand

SAN JOSE, Calif. — It's a face off for a small online adult operator against giant online social media company Facebook.

Thomas Pedersen, of Bergen, Norway, has been sued by Facebook, which claims the Faceporn operator copied the mainstream social network to build an adult one.

Facebook, which recently filed suit against Pedersen at U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., asks the court to order Faceporn to hand over its web domain and all revenue to Facebook.

It claims Pedersen's site promulgates brand tarnishment, dilution or confusion.

Faceporn, until recently, described itself as "the No. 1 socializing porn and sex network," but now the site has been down since last week and, according to its home page, it soon will be relaunched. The home page features a glimpse of its new logo, which incorporates a face in the "F."

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, Faceporn is down until further notice," the site says. "We are doing our best to come back better than ever. We're currently working to launch a completely new version of the site, and it will be the best porn site the world has ever seen."

Facebook has filed another suit at federal court to prevent a social-networking site from using elements that it considers to be Facebook's property, including the words "book" and "face."

TeachBook was sued in August by Facebook, which claimed that its use of the word "book" violated Facebook's trademark.

Faceporn "blatantly copied the Facebook logo, site and Wall trademark."

Screen shots filed with the lawsuit show some Facebook-like elements, including Wall postings and a similar blue-and-white color scheme, according to screen shots filed in the suit.

Instead of poking, Faceporn users can apparently "send a flirt."

Pedersen could not be reached via email over the weekend; Facebook did not immediately respond to XBIZ for comment.

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