Zuckerberg wins fight over Facebook idea

SAN FRANCISCO: Mark Zuckerberg won a legal battle against former Harvard classmates who accuse him of stealing their idea for Facebook, but the feud made famous on the silver screen is not over yet. 

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss must accept a cash and stock settlement with Facebook that had been valued at $65 million, a US appeals court ruled. 

The Winklevoss brothers argued their settlement with Facebook was unfair because the company hid information from them during talks. But the twins were sophisticated negotiators aided by a team of lawyers, 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel. "At some point, litigation must come to an end," Kozinski wrote. "That point has now been reached." 

An attorney for the brothers, Jerome Falk Jr, said that his clients would seek a rehearing before a larger, "en banc" group of 9th Circuit judges. 

That larger group can overrule a three-judge panel, although only a fraction of cases undergo such a review. Should the 9th Circuit refuse to rehear the case, the last option would be an appeal to the US Supreme Court. 

Falk said he "respectfully" disagreed with the 9th Circuit's conclusions. 

The 6-foot, 5-inch Winklevoss brothers are Olympic rowers who participated in the 2008 games inBeijing, and their saga with Zuckerberg was dramatised in the film 'The Social Network'. 

In the movie, actor Armie Hammer played both identical twins. Zuckerberg's character snidely called them on-screen the "Winklevi". 

The twins, along with Divya Narendra, started a company called ConnectU while at Harvard. They say Zuckerberg stole their idea. Facebook denies these claims. 

Facebook took in $1.2 billion of revenue in 2010's first nine months, according to documents thatGoldman Sachs provided to clients to entice investors in a special fund set up to invest in the giant social networking firm. 

The company was valued at $50 billion as part of that transaction. The company said that it is evaluating the Internet market in China, but a source indicated it has not yet signed a business deal with any companies there. 

The Winklevoss twins and Narendra agreed to a settlement that had been valued at $65 million. But they argue that, based on an internal valuation that Facebook did not reveal, they should have received more Facebook shares as part of the deal. 

A lower court had granted Facebook's request to enforce the settlement with the Winklevoss twins and Narendra. The 9th Circuit agreed on Monday. 

"The Winklevosses are not the first parties bested by a competitor who then seek to gain through litigation what they were unable to achieve in the marketplace," Kozinski wrote. 

Facebook Deputy General Counsel Colin Stretch said the company appreciated the court's careful consideration of the case and was "pleased" it ruled in their favour.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social-media/Zuckerberg-wins-fight-over-Facebook-idea/articleshow/7969060.cms

We will never bully our neighbours: China

BEIJING: China has assured its neighbours it will never play the bully. The government released a key defense policy document on Thursday promising to build trust with neighbouring countries in the military sphere. 

China is pursuing "an effective way to maintain national security and development, and safeguard regional peace and stability," the document said. 

"At present and in future, no matter how developed China is, China will never seek hegemony or pursue expansionist policies," Defence Ministry spokesmanGeng Yansheng said. "China's armed forces adopt a peaceful, cooperative and constructive approach in participating in international military affairs," he said. 

The document comes within days of the People's Liberation Army testing its integrated air defence capability under the scenario of a massive air strike. The tests that included surface-to-air missiles aimed at bringing compatibility among various kinds of missile systems, official reports said. 

Beijing also voiced concern over attempts by other countries to contain its growing power in the Asian region. Beijing is particularly peeved at what it regards as growing influence of the United States in Asia resulting in higher levels of friction in the region. 

"Suspicion about China, interference and countering moves against China from the outside are on the increase," the Chinese government said in a key military policy document released on Thursday. It expressed worries about the United States trying to enhance its influence in Asia resulting in growing friction in the region. 

China reiterated its earlier warnings about "fierce" regional competition and an increasingly "volatile" security scenario in Asia. 

"Major powers are stepping up the realignment of their security and military strategies, accelerating military reform and vigorously developing new ... military technologies." 

The document comes in the wake of sharp differences between Beijing and Tokyo over ownership of an island, and worldwide apprehension over large scale investments made by the Chinese militaryin its weapons modernization program. 

China's official defence spending rose 12.7 per cent this year to about 601 billion Yuan ($91.5 billion), the second highest in the world behind the United States. But military observers say this figure does not include a wide range of investments made on infrastructure and other strategic areas by different agencies of the government including the People's Liberation Army.

China has five airbases, extensive rail-road networks in Tibet: Antony

NEW DELHI: Apart from nuclear missile bases in Qinghai province which clearly target India, Chinahas built five fully-operational airbases, an extensive rail network and over 58,000 km of roads in Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). 

People's Liberation Army is also rapidly upgrading several other airstrips in TAR as well as south China, to add to the five airbases from where Chinese Sukhoi-27UBK and Sukhoi-30MKKfighters have practised operations in recent times. 

Moreover, with extensive road-rail links in TAR,PLA can amass upwards of two divisions (30,000 soldiers) at their "launch pads'' along the border in just 20 days now compared to the over 90 days it took earlier. 

All this is not strikingly new but, soon after Beijing hiked its annual military budget to $91.5 billion, mounting concern over China's massive build-up of military infrastructure was reflected in Lok Sabha on Monday. 

Cutting across party lines, 19 MPs came together to quiz defence minister A K Antony on whether the UPA government was taking "cognizance'' of the "increased Chinese military activities'' along the 4,057-km LAC. 

Antony, in a written reply, said "necessary steps'' were being taken in consonance with India's national security concerns. "Military capacity enhancement and modernisation of armed forces is a dynamic process, which takes into account the cumulative challenges envisaged by the nation,'' he said. 

"The total road network in TAR is assessed at 58,000 km in 2010. Extension of Qinghai TibetRailway to Xigaze is in progress. Another railway line from Kashgar to Hotan in Xinjiang Uighur Autonmous Region is under construction,'' he said, adding the five TAR airfields were Gongar, Pangta, Linchi, Hoping and Gar Gunsa. 

India is now, albeit belatedly, trying to strategically counter China. Just last week, for instance, saw two new Sukhoi-30MKIs touch down at Chabua airbase in Assam, the second airbase in North-East after Tezpur to house the multi-role fighters. Both airbases will have two Sukhoi squadrons (each has 16 to 18 jets) each. 

The Army, on its part, has raised two new mountain infantry divisions, with 1,260 officers and 35,011 soldiers. While the 56 Division has its HQ in Zakama (Nagaland) under the Dimapur-based 3 Corps, the 71 Division at Missamari (Assam) falls in the operational command of the Tezpur-based 4 Corps. 

IAF is also upgrading eastern sector ALGs (advanced landing grounds) like Pasighat, Mechuka, Walong, Tuting, Ziro and Vijaynagar as well as several helipads in Arunachal. This comes after the reactivation of western sector ALGs like Daulat Beg Oldi, Fukche and Nyama in eastern Ladakh.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/China-has-five-airbases-extensive-rail-road-networks-in-Tibet-Antony/articleshow/7648434.cms

Warships being sent to evacuate Indians from Libya

NEW DELHI: Warships of Indian Navy are being despatched to evacuate Indians from Libya as the situation in the North African country continued to deteriorate because of clashes between supporters and opponents of Muammar Gaddafi. 

The ministry of external affairs asked the defence ministry to ready the warships to sail for Libya. 

The exact number of warships needed for the operation, which is likely to be a largescale one, and from where they will be despatched is being worked out. 

As the situation in Libya continued to worsen, foreign minister S M Krishna told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that it may not be possible to spell out how much time it will take to evacuate all Indians even though, he said, the government was doing all it could to ensure their safety. Replying to queries from MPs over the issue, Krishna said all Indian nationals were safe "as of now". 

"It`s an extremely difficult proposition to spell out any timeframe for the evacuation. I can say that the government is serious and is concentrating on evacuating Indians in earliest possible time," Krishna said. 

There are about 18,000 Indians living in Libya, mainly in capital Tripoli and Benghazi. Krishna said there was need for a "much larger scale operation" as each ship could accommodate only 800-1,000 people. The minister also announced that an inter-ministerial committee headed by foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had been formed to coordinate efforts to ensure safety of all Indians in Libya. 

Chinese news agencies reported on Wednesday that Beijing managed to evacuate close to 3,000 people to neighbouring Tunisia by road. 

Krishna said the Indian ambassador to Libya had spoken to all Indian nurses stranded in Benghazi and that they were all safe. He added that because this was an evacuation, unlike the special flights operated earlier by Air India for Indians based in Egypt, no fare would be charged.

Source:-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Warships-being-sent-to-evacuate-Indians-from-Libya/articleshow/7559139.cms