The founder of social networking website Facebook.com, Mark Zuckerberg, will be in court this week defending an accusation that he stole the idea for the site from three of his former Harvard classmates.
Billions of dollars and one of the most coveted pieces of Internet property will be at stake when Zuckerberg, described as "the next Steve Jobs," faces off against his accusers in a courtroom on Wednesday.
Facebook has been described as the most sophisticated social networking website on the Internet, growing with 150,000 new members every day.
The lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2004, accuses the 23-year-old creator of stealing the idea, the source code and the business plan for Facebook.
Zuckerberg's former Harvard classmates allege he snatched the idea from 
under their noses when they recruited the Web wunderkind to work as a programmer for their own social networking site, now called ConnectU.com.
The three former Harvard students, Cameron Winklevoss, his twin brother Tyler, and Divya Narendra, allege Zuckerberg deliberately stalled their site's progress so that he could set up Facebook six months ahead.
Court papers say Zuckerberg registered thefacebook.com on Jan. 11, 2004 three days after sending his accusers an email promising to deliver a "functioning Web site" for their project.
The claimants say it was a significant time advantage in the breakneck speed in the Internet world and they are seeking control of Facebook and its assets, as well as damages.
The two sites are so similar that ConnectU launched a service that allows Facebook members to upload their profiles straight on to ConnectU. But ConnectU's breadth is only a fraction of the size of its competitor.
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*CTV.ca
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