Winklevoss twins taking Facebook case to Supreme Court

Facebook could be heading back to court. Again.
Facebook could be heading back to court. Again.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins who claim that the idea for Facebook was stolen from them by Mark Zuckerberg, are taking their case to the US Supreme Court.

In early April, a panel of judges told the twins that they could not back out of a settlement already reached with the social network in order to pursue another one. The current deal nets the Winklevii over $20 million in cash plus $45 million in shares.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, complete with a panel of 11 judges, has now also rejected the appeal, prompting the Winklevoss twins and their lawyer to head to the US Supreme Court.

The twins want to wriggle out of the existing settlement because they claim that Facebook told the court that shares were worth more than they actually were in order to reach that settlement; lower-valued shares would have meant that the Winklevosses would have been awarded a greater number which would appreciate to provide greater return.

Supremely courteous

The Supreme Court is the destination for any case in which conflicting rulings have been made; but since that isn't exactly the case for Winklevoss and Winklevoss v. Facebook, it may opt not to hear the case at all.

Clearly the Winklevoss twins still feel they ought to be awarded a greater slice of the Facebook pie, but the courts, like many of us, seem to reckon they should be happy with their already multi-million-dollar lot.

Still, it's all good fodder for The Social Network 2, eh Hollywood?

Via PhysOrg

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.