Facebook's Zuckerberg Claims Lawsuit Is Probing 'Private Life'

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, says a lawsuit by a man who claims to own a majority of the social networking site is attempting to uncover details about his private life in order to harass him.

Zuckerberg is locked in a legal battle with Paul Ceglia, a resident of Wellsville, New York. Ceglia claims that he owns 84% of the multi-billion dollar company.

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Ceglia is trying to move the case to a New York state court after Zuckerberg moved it to federal court, Reuters reported. Zuckerberg considers himself a California citizen, while Ceglia says both men are New Yorkers.

"They filed this remand motion to harass defendants under the pretext of obtaining jurisdictional discovery into Zuckerberg's private life," Zuckerberg's lawyers said in a filing in the federal court in Buffalo, New York.

The move could theoretically improve Ceglia's chances of winning the case or gaining an out of court settlement, as cases can be dismissed faster in federal court.

"The higher the stakes, the more likely you want to take advantage of procedural moves to improve your chances," Adam Steinman, a professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, told Reuters.

In a lawsuit filed in June, Ceglia claimed that a 2003 contract with Zuckerberg entitles Ceglia to control of Facebook.