NY Daily Record Since 1908
BUFFALO — A man who is suing for part ownership of Facebook has been fined $5,000 for failing to fully comply with a court order to give experts access to his email accounts.
Paul Ceglia also was ordered to pay Facebook’s court costs in trying to obtain the material, which Facebook said would help expose Ceglia’s case as a fraud.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio said Ceglia had delayed the case by failing to produce his email addresses and passwords dating to 2003 while his lawyers unsuccessfully challenged the August order as an invasion of privacy.
“For whatever reasons, plaintiff, fully advised by his lawyers not to do so, chose to knowingly ignore the unambiguous orders of the court,” Foschio wrote late Tuesday.
The fine is “designed to coerce plaintiff’s future compliance with all court orders in this case,” he said.
