Ask HN: Can a nonprofit org clone Facebook?

1 pointreacharavindh1 comment

Let's say an org like Wikipedia decides to build a website called Openbook. It looks and feels like Facebook (say in a different shade of blue with different fonts :-) ) and has a wall, newsfeed, photos, events etc. would that be a violation of anything with Facebook? Copyright? Patents?

Asking just out of curiosity.

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How much do you think it's cost to build the current version of Facebook?

How much does it cost to design a vehicle?

If you were to copy the design, paint it a different color, and put a different logo on it, would that be subject to damages? Yes, I think it would.

There's GNU Social: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_social

There's Mastodon (which is a blatant clone of Twitter with federation and OStatus and no SMS support): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_(software)

Beyond a certain number of users, handling spam and harassment can become very expensive (because people who can afford to pay damages aren't out abusing others on the internet).

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