North Face Lawsuit Against South Butt Going Viral With Facebook App

from the can-you-tell-a-butt-from-a-face dept

Following North Face's incredibly short-sighted decision to sue parody clothing maker, South Butt, it seems that the story is going viral in a variety of ways. Not only is the press and various blogs talking about it, but Paul Alan Levy alerts us to the news that South Butt has released a Facebook app that helps you "sharpen your skills" to see if you can "tell a butt from a face." As Levy notes, this sort of application and attention gaining effort shows why these types of lawsuits are likely to bite you in the butt. Even if there's a legal basis here (and that's questionable), the backlash against such a lawsuit is clear (and was widely predicted when North Face first made its threat). Anyone filing lawsuits these days needs to realize how the court of public opinion can weigh in quite loudly on such things.

Filed Under: backlash, facebook app, lawsuits, trademark, viral
Companies: facebook, north face, south butt

UK Police Create Facebook App For Sending In Tips

from the e-snitch dept

We've heard plenty of stories about police using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to catch criminals who brag about their crimes on these social networks, but Alimas points us to a story about how police in Manchester are going much further. They've created a whole Facebook application designed to let people submit information and (they hope) help the police solve crimes. The app has a running news feed of stories about crimes, sometimes with requests for help in getting tips or even identifying people in a surveillance cam video. While some people may think of it as an "e-snitch" program, it's interesting to see the police go this far in trying to tap into a social network, and seems a lot more useful than just trolling social networks for dumb criminals. It's nice to see the police realizing that part of a social network is the two-way communication aspect, rather than just monitoring what's happening.

Filed Under: facebook app, manchester, police, uk
Companies: facebook