Campbell et al v. Facebook Inc.

Filing 161

EXHIBITS re 149 Opposition/Response to Motion,,,,, filed byFacebook Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Himel Decl. - Exhibit MM (Redacted), # 2 Himel Decl. - Exhibit NN (Redacted), # 3 Himel Decl. - Exhibit OO (Redacted), # 4 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit PP (filed under seal), # 5 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit QQ (filed under seal), # 6 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit RR (filed under seal), # 7 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit SS (filed under seal), # 8 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit TT (filed under seal), # 9 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit UU (filed under seal), # 10 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit VV (filed under seal), # 11 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit WW (filed under seal), # 12 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit XX (filed under seal), # 13 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit YY (filed under seal), # 14 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit ZZ (filed under seal), # 15 Fechete Decl. - Exhibit AAA (filed under seal), # 16 Declaration Declaration of Michael Adkins In Support of Defendant Facebook, Inc.s Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification (Redacted))(Related document(s) 149 ) (Chorba, Christopher) (Filed on 1/16/2016)

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GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP
JOSHUA A. JESSEN, SBN 222831
[e-mail]
JEANA BISNAR MAUTE, SBN 290573
[e-mail]
ASHLEY M. ROGERS, SBN 286252
[e-mail]
1881 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, California 94304
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP
GAIL E. LEES, SBN 90363
[e-mail]
CHRISTOPHER CHORBA, SBN 216692
[e-mail]
333 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90071
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Attorneys for Defendant
FACEBOOK, INC.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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OAKLAND DIVISON

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MATTHEW CAMPBELL, MICHAEL
HURLEY, and DAVID SHADPOUR,

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Case No. C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)
PUTATIVE CLASS ACTION

Plaintiffs,
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DECLARATION OF ALEX HIMEL
ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT
FACEBOOK, INC.

v.
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FACEBOOK, INC.,
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Defendant.
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HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY
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DECLARATION OF ALEX HIMEL ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT FACEBOOK, INC.
Case No. C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)

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I, Alex Himel, declare as follows:
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I have been employed as a software engineer at Facebook since April 2009, and my

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current title is Engineering Director. From 2009-2014, I worked on Facebook’s Developer Platform,

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and my work encompassed Facebook’s “Share” button, Facebook’s “Like” button, and the code that

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keeps track of the “count” features associated with “Share” and “Like.” I have personal knowledge

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of the matters stated herein and, if called as a witness, could and would testify competently thereto. I

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provide this Declaration to explain certain facts regarding Facebook’s software code as it relates to

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detecting uniform resource locators (“URLs”) in messages sent and received through the Facebook

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platform and the relationship of any such URLs to certain social plugins served by Facebook and

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visible on third-party websites. In particular, I refer below to the count associated with a Facebook

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“Like” social plugin on third-party websites (the “Like” count). I also explain the termination of

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related practices in October and December 2012.

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2.

I understand the purported class in this action to consist of Facebook users located

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within the United States who have sent or received messages that included URLs in the body of the

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message from December 30, 2011 until in or around late 2012, when the practice of including URL

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shares in messages in the count on third-party websites ceased (“the Relevant Period”).

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Facebook’s Source Code

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3.

internal Facebook system
. These documents,

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Attached as Exhibits A through G are true and correct copies of documents from an

, a description

include the date o
, and the

is on the left, and the relevant

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. The relevant
is on the right.

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.

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4.

To the extent that the above-mentioned documents contain source code, this code has

been redacted for several reasons.

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HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY
DECLARATION OF ALEX HIMEL ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT FACEBOOK, INC.
Case No. C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)

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5.

First, Facebook’s source code is a closely guarded trade secret of enormous economic

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value. Providing it to outside parties increases the risk of further disclosure and therefore poses a risk

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of substantial competitive harm. Disclosure of source code outside of Facebook erodes Facebook’s

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efforts to protect the code in which Facebook has invested significant resources and which comprises

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a significant part of Facebook’s product offering and competitive advantage. Indeed, the code

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reflected in

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that generates Facebook’s proprietary design and functionalities could cause catastrophic competitive

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harm by allowing others to replicate that design and functionality without making the same

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investment of time, money, and personnel.

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6.

is the product of thousands of engineering hours. Revealing the code

Second, disclosing portions of Facebook’s source code would reveal the methods used

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to protect Facebook’s users and the integrity of the Facebook platform, and could undermine both of

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these efforts. Facebook’s source code includes complex safety and security features that detect spam,

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detect and prevent abuse of the system, and protect users from malware, among other things. These

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features not only provide for a better and more enjoyable product (another competitive advantage for

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Facebook), but also protect Facebook and its users from harm and loss associated with unsolicited

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and dangerous content and activities by third parties. The effectiveness of these systems depends in

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part on their secrecy. Disclosure of Facebook’s security methods would potentially allow hackers

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and abusers to threaten users and the system.

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7.

In the context of certain types of litigation (such as patent litigation) where there may

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be a legitimate need for source code inspection, I am aware that Facebook negotiates specific

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protections for source code and implements detailed and time-consuming protocols for handling

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source code, as well as extensive limitations on the use of source code materials, disclosure, and

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future restrictions on the conduct of individuals exposed to source code materials.

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8.

In the present case, evidence other than source code is available to demonstrate the

processes and functionality at issue. In particular, the non-code information embodied in
—effectively demonstrates the processes and
functionality at issue. Additionally, the source code for the processes and functionality at issue is not
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HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY
DECLARATION OF ALEX HIMEL ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT FACEBOOK, INC.
Case No. C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)

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limited or contained in any discrete way; that is, it is interconnected with other source code at

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Facebook. Therefore, if Facebook were required to make source code available in this matter, it

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would have little choice but to grant access to a significant amount of source code that has nothing to

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do with the allegations in this case.

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Share and Like Functionality

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9.

During the Relevant Period, Facebook offered websites “social plugins,” or units of

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embeddable code that allow users to share information using Facebook directly from third-party

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websites. A third-party website may have embedded code for the Facebook “Like” button plugin on

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its website, enabling Facebook users to directly “Like” the website and to share that action with their

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Facebook connections (without having to return to https://www.facebook.com or the Facebook

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mobile app to share the content). The “Like” button plugin also may have displayed an anonymous

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and aggregate count of all “Likes” for that particular website (the above-referenced “Like” count).

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Facebook also offered a “Share” button, which also may have displayed an anonymous and aggregate

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count of all “Shares” for that particular website (the “Share” count).

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10.

In September 2009, Facebook enabled functionality that would ultimately allow third-

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party website developers to provide a count associated with a “Share” button on their websites.

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Attached as Exhibit A is a

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HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY
DECLARATION OF ALEX HIMEL ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT FACEBOOK, INC.
Case No. C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)

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Ex. A at 5, 7-8. In addition to

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the overall “Share count,” third-party website developers also could view the public API statistics

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indicating how many times a particular URL was shared. The public API statistics did not include

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statistics indicating (specifically or by inference) how many times a given URL was shared using the

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“Share” button and choosing “in a private message.”

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In October 2009, Facebook

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Ex. B at 3-5.
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At our F8 Developer Conference on April 21, 2010, Facebook announced the public

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launch of the “Like” button, which also included a count feature reflecting the number of times a user

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had clicked or commented on the “Like” button on that third-party website. The

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In May 2010, Facebook

Exhibit C is a

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HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY
DECLARATION OF ALEX HIMEL ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT FACEBOOK, INC.
Case No. C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)

. Attached as

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Ex. C at 5.
URL Preview

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During the Relevant Period, Facebook’s service included a Messages product, which

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allowed users to exchange messages that could be viewed in the recipient user’s Messages folder.

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Beginning in August 2010, Facebook’s source code included functionality supporting a feature

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15.

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—including a brief description of the
URL and, if available, a relevant image from the website, as illustrated by the example below:

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HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY
DECLARATION OF ALEX HIMEL ON BEHALF OF DEFENDANT FACEBOOK, INC.
Case No. C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)

EXHIBIT A