#apniisp

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This is how vulnerable your Facebook Page can really be

Here’s a cautionary tale about just how vulnerable Facebook pages can be if you’re unlucky.

Earlier this year there was controversy around the withdrawal of a number of Facebook Pages belonging to well-known technology blogs like Ars Technica and NeoWin. As was reported at the time, Facebook acted on bogus intellectual property claims from people who told the social network that these Pages violated their trademarks. As is its policy, Facebook withdrew the Pages without any prior investigation.

Now, these pages were reinstated swiftly once publicity was generated around them. However, not everyone is quite so lucky. Pakistani website ApniISP was one such victim. Its owner, Hassan Ali contacted The Next Web recently out of desperation after he had tried everything to get his business’ Page reinstated following its withdrawal after a bogus copyright violation claim. However, the withdrawal of the claim was just the start. Here’s how it happened…

A cautionary tale

In early March this year, Ali was notified by Facebook that his Page had been taken down following an intellectual property claim on the name ApniISP. As is Facebook protocol, Ali was given the contact details of the complainant (a “Max Stevens” of “Stevens Law Firm, New York”) in order to resolve the issue. Exchanging emails (which have been seen by The Next Web), the complainant said that ApniISP violated US and UK trademarks, claiming “There are at least 8 boutiques called “‘ApniISP’ (Indian Sari Palace) In the United States and United Kingdom.”

In actual fact, no such trademarks exist in either country, but that wasn’t going to stop ‘Mr Stevens’ (who, incidentally was emailing from a Gmail account rather than an official law firm email address). ‘Stevens’ suggested that Ali could lease or purchase the trademark for a fee.

“Your website gets a lot of visits and you make quite an amount of income from ads. The website is generating revenue according to our research. My client at this point is asking if you are willing to lease the trademark or purchase it from them. If you agree with the offer please let me know.”

Ali held firm, refusing to pay out, and eventually received a bizarre email from ‘Mr. Stevens’ informing him that his page would never be reinstated. The image below was attached as ‘proof’, supposedly sent from “the heads of Facebook.com”. It was sent exactly as we see below, redactions and typos included:

See more at thenextweb.com