Founder of popular social networking site Facebook is being taken to court by a rival web site for stealing software codes, designs and business plans. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder, has been charged by the three founders of rival social networking website ConnectU, of stealing the “basic idea” of Facebook from ConnectU as well as its specific code which they say is “proprietary and confidential”.

They have alleged that 23-year old Zuckerberg, a fellow student from Harvard University, agreed to complete a code for them, but instead used their ideas to initiate his own website while delaying their project. The lawsuit's allegations against Zuckerberg include fraud, copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets.

ConnectU, which was the brainchild of brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and business partner Divya Narendra, in the lawsuit, has asked the court to shut down Facebook and give control of the company and it’s assets to the former. The hearing on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit was scheduled for Wednesday in a U.S. District Court in Boston.

The case has generated a lot of interest since Facebook, with more than 30 million users worldwide, is highly successful as compared to ConnectU with a meagre membership of 100,000. Facebook had allegedly turned down an offer of $1 billion from Yahoo! last year and is reportedly on the verge of appearing on the stock market. The lawsuit which was brought in August 2004 has undergone several procedural delays. The claimants are fast losing hope because of the delays in hearing and the fact that Facebook is on a growth spurt. Earlier in March this year, the case was dismissed on a technicality, but because the legal merits were not ruled upon, the founders of ConnectU filed a new action.

However, Zuckerberg has admitted that he did six hours of coding for ConnectU on a voluntary basis. He also said that he thought the website was a “personal page” and not a social networking site. The Stanford Daily reported Winklevoss as saying “It was clear to him what we wanted. He stalled us for months while he worked on his own idea, which he launched in February as an original idea.” Zuckerberg has denied the allegations and has asked the case to be dismissed.

The case has set tongues talking that the Winklevoss` and Narendra are jealous of the success that Facebook has achieved. “There are just too many things, in my view, that just look bad for the plaintiffs,” Inside Facebook blogger Justin Smith said. “In particular, there has been a period of three years of inactivity on the legal front. They have chosen not to pursue this matter until it was clear that there was something to be gained from it.”

He also said that “When you combine this kind of fascination with Facebook as a product with the media's inherent fascination with young CEOs (and with) college dorm room legal drama, it just makes for a popular story”.

What comes out of the court room drama is yet to be seen. Meanwhile, ConnectU has its fingers crossed.