The popular online social network Facebook Inc. is being sued by an Indiana woman who alleges it has profited from its members sending thousands of unauthorized text messages to mobile phone users whose numbers previously belonged to other people.The lawsuit, filed Monday in a San Jose federal court, highlights the confusion and frustration that can arise as Web sites extend their services to mobile handsets with phone numbers that have been reassigned, or "recycled," after another customer's service ended.
Lindsey Abrams, a Patriot, Ind., mother in her mid-20s, alleges she began receiving unsolicited text messages apparently intended for an unidentified Facebook member shortly after she received a new mobile number from Verizon Communications Inc. in November 2006.
The messages included explicit language and unsettling remarks, according to Abrams' civil complaint. She alleges she was charged 10 cents per message and told she couldn't block the Facebook texting without cutting off notes she wanted to receive.
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