Israeli entrepreneur Rotem Guez has legally changed his name to Mark Zuckerberg in response to legal threats from Facebook. The 32 year old Haifa resident runs a website called "Likestore" which sells Facebook "likes" in bulk charging prices of NIS 500-10,000 for 1,000-10,000 "likes."
Last week, Guez received a letter from a law firm representing Facebook demanding that he should close his business. Guez insists that his business is legal, and decided to change his name to that of Facebook founder and CEO, to see if Facebook is prepared to sue him.
Guez went to the Ministry of Interior offices in Haifa to change his name accompanied by a Channel 2 crew. At first the clerk refused to change his name, describing it as "misleading the public," but Guez's insistence that "Zuckerberg" is a nice Jewish name convinced her to register the change.
Guez is now waiting to see if Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook makes good on its threat to sue the person who is now Haifa's Mark Zuckerberg.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 18, 2011
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