"Affinity Engines claims that Google employee Orkut Buyukkokten secretly took the code from Affinity, where he once worked, and made a few changes before launching it as Orkut. Buyukkokten had promised not to develop a competing social-networking site and had assigned all rights for the code to Affinity, the suit alleges. Affinity filed the complaint May 25 in Santa Clara Superior Court, and seeks unspecified damages and royalties." reports the Mercury News.
"The claim, 68 pages, documents numerous cases where Orkut and Affinity have nearly identical text and Web-page layouts. It also points out nine software-code bugs Orkut and Affinity have in common, something Affinity says proves the two stem from identical code.
"David Krane, a spokesman for Google, dismissed the Affinity claims: 'We have repeatedly offered to allow a neutral expert to compare the code in the two programs and evaluate Affinity's claims, but Affinity has rejected that offer,' he wrote in a statement. 'We have investigated the claims made by Affinity Engines thoroughly and concluded that the allegations are without merit'."
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