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Australia Allows Facebook For Serving Legal Notices

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December 17, 2008

A lawyer in Australia had been trying to serve a foreclosure notice to a couple who had defaulted on a home loan. Mark McCormack couldn't find the couple by e-mail, and he couldn't find them at their home. So he turned to Facebook, the popular social networking site. He wanted to serve legal documents to the couple's Facebook page. A court in Australia ruled last week that he may. But by the time the court approved McCormack's request, the couple had removed their Facebook profile from public view.

Copyright © 2008 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And today's last word in business comes from a lawyer in Australia who's been trying to serve a foreclosure notice to a couple that has defaulted on a home loan. Mark McCormack could not find the couple by email, and he could not find them at their home. So he turned to Facebook, the popular social networking site. And that leads to today's last word: superpoke.

Poking is a Facebook form of fast communication, and that's how Mr. McCormack has tried to serve legal documents to the couple's Facebook page. Last week, a top court in Australia ruled he could do it. But by the time the court approved McCormack's request to legally serve his foreclosure notice, the couple had removed their Facebook profile from public view. That's the business news on Morning Edition from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

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NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

 
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