Facebook Foe Folds Up Shop-Power.com Up For Auction

Power.com Screenshot

Power.com has been locked in a legal battle with Facebook since 2008, but it looks like it is sputtering as a business venture. Power.com had marketed itself as an all-in-one website that would allow users to control all their social networks from one place, but now the website is up for auction. The minimum bid for this domain name, which its owner believes will “attract the attention of the world’s investment and business elite?” A cool $2.5 million.

The Power.com auction, which is being organized by RokMe, has a pretty all-out sales pitch for the site, focused on the word “power.” It features a rotating procession of famous quotes about power but then replaces the word “power” with “Power.com,” as in: “Power.com is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” -Henry Kissinger. The quotes run next to pictures of things that Power.com-type people might be into, such as yachts and jets. Just in case those subtle images don’t get across the value of this domain-which “instantly communicates undeniable position, status and prestige”-there’s also a more straightforward picture of the kind of dude who might be up for buying Power.com. He’s got a woman on each arm and is literally waving around wads of hundred dollar bills. (Powerfully pictured at left.)

Power.com’s dispute with Facebook originated in 2008, when the company created software that let users access Facebook, along with other social networks like LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) and Orkut, all from one central website. (Orkut is a Google-owned service that’s quite popular in Power.com’s native Brazil.) Facebook sued in late 2008, saying Power.com’s use of Facebook data violated California and federal anti-hacking laws.

The case was closely watched because the portability of user data-or lack thereof-has continued to be a hot issue on the web. Some Facebook critics have said the company doesn’t do a good enough job of letting users access their own data. Facebook rival Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has made a big issue out of data portability.

Very little has happened in this lawsuit in the last year or so, as noted by legal blogger Venkat Balasubramani, who reported the sale this morning. Last year, Power.com tried to bring an early motion to resolve the case, but Facebook successfully argued it needed more discovery; the Brazilian company also tried to bring antitrust counterclaims against Facebook, but those were thrown out in short order. Balasubramani predicted the parties may now quickly settle the case, since not much is at stake at this point.

In February, Facebook dropped several of its claims against Power.com, but a company spokesman said that was simply to narrow the focus of the case.

The court docket seems to indicate that the litigation is ongoing at this point. Power.com’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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