Facebook judge refuses to let Ceglia see Zuckerberg's computers

Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg can't be questioned by Paul Ceglia in his suit claiming to own part of the social network and Ceglia can't have access to the computers Zuckerberg used when he started the business, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio in Buffalo, New York, who said Facebook has produced “an avalanche of evidence” suggesting that the 2003 contract on which Ceglia bases his claim is a phony, yesterday agreed with Facebook that Ceglia shouldn't get most of the evidence he's seeking from the company.

Foschio said Ceglia will get to see 300 e-mails from Zuckerberg's Harvard University e-mail account and can question Facebook's expert witnesses, which include experts in computer forensics, document authentication, ink and paper.

Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, asked Foschio last week to throw out the case, claiming it constitutes a fraud on the court. The company urged Foschio to bar Ceglia from seeking evidence altogether until he decides whether to dismiss the case.

Yesterday's ruling means the suit, filed in 2010, will go forward for at least another six months. After yesterday's hearing in Buffalo, both sides claimed victory.

‘Very Pleased'

“We are very pleased with today's ruling,” said Facebook's lawyer, Orin Snyder. “The court denied Ceglia's request for broad discovery and continues to focus these proceedings solely on the question of Ceglia's criminal fraud.”

Ceglia's lawyers said they're pleased that the judge has ruled that pretrial fact-finding should proceed.

“We are hopeful that once we have obtained and presented this information, the court will deny the defendants' motions to dismiss and allow the case to proceed to full discovery and an eventual trial,” they said in a statement.

Foschio has let Facebook gain access to Ceglia's computers, e-mail accounts and other evidence over the last nine months to allow it to determine whether the contract and e-mails he produced to support his claim are genuine. In the hearing today, Snyder said that Facebook found on a computer belonging to Ceglia's parents the real signed contract between Ceglia and Zuckerberg, which makes no mention of Facebook.

Planted Document

Ceglia has said that Zuckerberg may have planted the document. Ceglia told the court in papers seeking to avoid turning the document over that he had e-mailed it to his lawyer in 2004, Snyder told Foschio yesterday.

Facebook has called the e-mail and attached contract “incontrovertible proof” that Ceglia's claim is a fraud.

Facebook is worth an estimated $95.8 billion, according to SharesPost.com, which tracks nonpublic companies. Zuckerberg owns 28.4 percent of the company. The company has said Ceglia wants to use the litigation to disrupt its initial public offering and leverage a settlement.

The case is Ceglia v. Zuckerberg, 1:10-cv-00569, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York (Buffalo).