Twitter threatens legal action against Meta over Threads: report
New York (AP): Twitter has threatened legal action against Meta over its new, text-based app called Threads, according to a letter obtained by Semafor.
In a Wednesday letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alex Spiro, an attorney representing Twitter, accused Meta of unlawfully using Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property by hiring former Twitter employees to create a "copycat" app.
Since launching Threads Wednesday night, Meta's new app has collected tens of millions of sign ups. The app, which was created by the company's Instagram team, arrives at a time when many are looking for Twitter alternatives to escape Elon Musk's raucous oversight of the platform since acquiring it last year for USD 44 billion.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone responded to the report of Spiro's letter on Threads Thursday afternoon, writing, "no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee that's just not a thing".
In the letter, which Semafor first reported on Thursday, Spiro said that Twitter "intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights" and noted the company's right to seek civil remedies or injunctive relief. He added that the letter marked a "formal notice" for Meta to preserve documents relevant for a potential dispute between the companies.
The Associated Press reached out to Spiro and Twitter on Thursday for further information. Twitter responded to an email seeking comment with a poop emoji, its standard automated response to reporters.
Musk hasn't directly tweeted about the possibility of legal action, but he has replied to several snarky takes on the Threads launch. The Twitter owner responded to one tweet suggesting that Meta's app was built largely through the use of the copy and paste function, with a laughing emoji.
Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has also not publicly commented on Wednesday's letter, but seemingly appeared to address Threads' launch in a Thursday tweet.
"We're often imitated -- but the Twitter community can never be duplicated," Yaccarino wrote.
Still, some analysts say Meta's new app could be a significant headache for Twitter pointing to the excitement surrounding Threads' launch and impressive download numbers so far.
Success for the app isn't guaranteed, of course. Industry watchers point to Meta's track record of starting standalone apps that were later shut down, for example, and note that Threads is still in its early days so time will tell.
Meta's new app has also raised data privacy concerns. While Threads launched in more than 100 countries Wednesday, it is notably unavailable in the European Union, which has strict data privacy rules.
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Ex-Army officer assaulted, robbed at gunpoint by woman he met through matrimonial website
Mathura(UP), Apr 5 (PTI): A retired Army colonel from Haryana has filed a police complaint here, alleging that he was held hostage, assaulted, looted and forced to participate in an "obscene video" at gunpoint with a woman he met through a matrimonial website, police said on Saturday.
The woman from Mathura, who was allegedly in on the plan to rob him, was working with other accomplices, the ex-armyman said in his complaint filed on Thursday.
According to Barsana Station House Officer (SHO) Raj Kamal Singh, Colonel Rajneesh Soni (retired), a resident of Gurugram, reported that he was contacted by a woman from Barsana on a matrimonial website in January. The woman allegedly agreed to marry him, and they began communicating.
The woman allegedly persuaded the colonel to visit Barsana on January 25, requesting that he visit the Radharani temple. When he arrived, she arranged for his stay at a guest house and took him on a tour of the area, including a visit to the temple, the complainant said.
After returning to the guest house, the woman and her accomplices allegedly told the colonel that her brother had been involved in an accident and they needed to leave immediately. They then led him to a waiting car.
"Once outside the town limits, the colonel alleges that he was attacked by the occupants of the car. They seized his phone, physically assaulted him, and forced him to contact relatives and friends to transfer money," the SHO said.
"He was then taken back to the guest house, where he was allegedly forced to participate in obscene videos and photographs at gunpoint. He was threatened that the videos would be made public if he reported the incident," the officer said.
The colonel has alleged that his purse, bag, gold chain, debit card and Rs. 12,000 in cash were stolen from the guest house.
After an unsuccessful attempt at locating the perpetrators himself, the colonel finally reported the incident to the Barsana police two days ago, he said.
"A case has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS and all facts are being investigated. Further action will be taken as per facts found in the investigation," the SHO said.
