Tech & Biz

Facebook Blocks SCRABULOUS

by Christina 123 | July 26, 2008 at 04:06 pm

335 views | 2 Recommendations | 3 comments

It has today been revealed that FACEBOOK have removed the SCRABULOUS application from the account of some users. It comes in the wake of legal action by Hambros who claim to hold the copyright to SCRABBLE on which the makers claim the game is based. FACEBOOK appear anxious to be seen as neutral in the matter.

[q url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7531669.stm]

The application has been disabled for users in the US and Canada.

Hasbro, the makers of Scrabble, are suing the Calcutta-based founders of Scrabulous, claiming they are infringing its copyright and trademark.

Hasbro had asked Facebook to block access following the launch of its own official version of Scrabble.

A spokeswoman for Facebook told the BBC that the final decision to suspend the game was made by the developers, not the site itself. BBC [/q]

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Scrabulous may be worth more points than Scrabble on the board, but not if the makers of Scrabble can help it. It looks like Scrabble may gain their MONOPOLY and give Facebook the GO TO JAIL card!

The Calcutta, India-based creators of a Scrabble knock-off that has become one of the most popular activities on Facebook were sued Thursday by Hasbro Inc, the company that owns the word game's North American rights.

The suit against Scrabulous' creators comes less than two weeks after the release of an authorized version of Scrabble for Facebook.

Hasbro said in its lawsuit that Scrabulous violates its copyright and trademarks. Separately, Hasbro asked Facebook to block the game.

In the year since Facebook began letting outside developers write Web programs that Facebook members can plug into their personal profile pages, Scrabulous has attracted some half-million daily users, despite efforts by Scrabble's owners to end it.