Social Networking Watch: News on the Social Networking and Social Media Industry

Pair The App Is Getting Sued By Pair Networks

TECH CRUNCH - May 6 - Pair picked up a $4.2M seed round, money the founders said would be used to expand its mobile development and design teams. Now it looks like some of those funds might also need to go to legal bills. Tenthbit, the developer behind Pair, is getting sued by pair Networks, a hosting and domain registration company for trademark infringement. Tenthbit, meanwhile, has also sued pair Networks, to try to prevent the other suit from going ahead. Pair Networks is asking for an injunction on Pair the app, as well as “other relief as this Court deems appropriate.” Tenthbit argues the two do not compete directly, and would therefore not result in any brand confusion. Pair, the app, has seen ~220K downloads since it went live in the app store a month ago. Pair Networks says that it has been policing for the use of its name by Internet-related companies for years now, and cites three different examples in its complaint where courts have ruled in its favor in other trademark infringement cases. Pair Networks claims that its reputation is being damaged because Pair the app is associated with “explicit adult activity” like “sexting.” Pair Networks is asking to get all the profits that Tenthbit will have made from Pair app.

by Ingrid Lunden
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Social Networks, Small And Smaller

NY TIMES - Apr 24 - Facebook makes sharing easy. Yes, the site does allow you to define smaller circles of friends, but that requires constantly monitoring what should and should not be shared with whom. Newer social networks, like Path, FamilyLeaf and Pair, offer a range of constraints. A Path network, available only on smartphones, has a maximum of 150 friends. FamilyLeaf is restricted to family members. And Pair is as small as a social network can be: just one other person. The average Facebook user in United States has 245 friends. That figure well exceeds the “Dunbar number,” the 150 meaningful relationships that Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist, has suggested is the effective neurological limit the human brain can handle. 50 is the limit for trusted friends, 15 for good friends, and 5 for best friends.

by Randall Stross
See full article at NY Times

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