Facebook Inc

Facebook Inc., after eclipsing MySpace in global users last year, now leads its social-networking rival in the U.S. as well, according to research firm ComScore Inc. The Palo Alto, Calif., company had 70.28 million U.S. users last month, topping MySpace's 70.26 million, ComScore said. Facebook's users almost doubled from a year earlier, while MySpace lost 5%. Facebook, which became the top global social-networking site a year ago, had 307.1 million users worldwide in April, the Reston, Va.

Facebook, the popular social networking website, moved quickly Monday to take down a member's poll asking if President Obama should be assassinated. The question, "Should Obama be killed?" had received 730 responses since its posting on Saturday. The four possible answers: Yes. Maybe. If he cuts my healthcare. No. The Secret Service launched an investigation into the threat against the president. A Facebook spokesman said the Palo Alto-based company was not aware of the poll until early Monday morning and did not know who posted it or who responded to it. "At this time, we don't know," said Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for policy.

The companies that make Scrabble are trying to shut down Scrabulous, an online version of the game that is one of the most popular applications on the social-networking website Facebook. Hasbro Inc., which owns the rights to the crossword game in the U.S. and Canada, and Mattel Inc., which owns the rights elsewhere, believe that the Facebook game infringes their copyrights and trademarks. Scrabulous listed more than 600,000 daily active users on Facebook as of Wednesday.

MySpace, the top social networking site owned by News Corp., is in talks to create an online music joint venture with the four biggest record companies, sources familiar with the discussion said Wednesday. The talks are part of Rupert Murdoch's plans to distinguish MySpace, a haven for new music fans, from fast-moving rival Facebook as the premier destination for digital media. Plans for the service, tentatively named MySpace Music, are still in the discussion phase.

Social networking site Facebook has closed a second $60-million investment round with Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing through his foundation, a source familiar with the deal confirmed Thursday. The source said the deal valued Facebook at $15 billion, as did a $240-million stake Microsoft Corp. took in October. The deal boosts Li's holdings in Facebook to $120 million, including an earlier $60-million round late last year. Li's investment was made by the Li Ka Shing Foundation.

Matt Cohler, a senior Facebook Inc. executive and one of the early employees of the social networking phenom, is leaving to become a general partner with Benchmark Capital. The departure comes at a crucial time for Facebook, which has risen to become one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies. Microsoft Corp. and other investors last year gave the 4-year-old venture a $15-billion valuation.

Hasbro Inc. to Scrabulous: N-I-X-E-D, for a minimum of 13 points. The toy company scored big Tuesday in its legal match against the popular but unauthorized version of Scrabble that's played online by millions of Facebook members. The India-based creators of Scrabulous shut down the game to players in the U.S. and Canada, where Hasbro owns the rights to Scrabble, a week after Hasbro sued them, alleging copyright infringement.

Facebook Inc. has struck back against spammers, winning an $873-million judgment against a Canadian man accused of sending millions of unsolicited messages about drugs and sex. The popular social networking site said Adam Guerbuez tricked its members into revealing their passwords to send out messages. Guerbuez did not appear in court to defend himself, Facebook said, although the company says it has video of him being served the lawsuit. U.S.

As the mastermind of Facebook.com, Mark Zuckerberg is sitting on a potential gold mine that could make him the next Silicon Valley whiz kid to strike it rich. But the 22-year-old founder of the Internet's No. 2 social-networking site also could become the next poster boy for missed opportunities if he waits too long to cash in on Facebook Inc., which is expected to generate revenue of more than $100 million this year.

Social-networking site Facebook Inc. will let users post free online classified ads, creating new competition for EBay Inc. and newspapers. Facebook users can post listings in categories including items for sale, housing and jobs. The Marketplace feature also lets members add photos of the items, the Palo Alto-based company said. The Facebook classified ads are the latest challenge to newspapers, which have lost revenue to free sites such as Craigslist.