BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A New York state man who says he owns half of Facebook has been ordered to pay the social networking giant $75,000 for failing to comply with a court order.
A federal magistrate judge in Buffalo ordered the sanction Wednesday, The Buffalo News reported. The magistrate found Paul Ceglia did not turn over information on his personal e-mail accounts to Facebook.
Ceglia sued Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, one of its founders, two years ago. He says he and Zuckerberg, then an unknown Harvard University student, reached an agreement in 2003 that gave him a 50 percent stake in the company.
Zuckerberg says he and Ceglia worked together on another project but that Ceglia was not involved in Facebook.
The judge, Leslie Foschio, has already fined Ceglia $5,000. His attorney, Dean Boland, says Ceglia has paid the fine and will pay the money to Facebook but still expects to win his suit when it goes to trial.
