NEW YORK � In a counterpunch to the world�s biggest online hangout, a small Web company called Power.com has sued Facebook, saying it doesn�t follow its own policy of giving users control over their content.

Power lets users simultaneously access several social networks, including MySpace and Twitter. But Facebook isn�t among them because the site has blocked Power. Last year it sued Power over the practice in a case that is still open.
In that lawsuit, Facebook accused Power of copyright and trademark violations and said the company gains unauthorized access to Facebook�s computer network when it asks users for their Facebook login and password information.
This, Facebook says, violates its members� privacy and security, as well as its policy of prohibiting outsiders from asking Facebook users for their login information. Power, though, points out that its practice is a common one on the Web and even Facebook asks its own users to provide login information for their e-mail accounts if they want to find their e-mail contacts on the site.
San Francisco-based Power filed a countersuit Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. Power claims that Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook improperly restricts its users� access to their private information when it prevents them from accessing it through a third party like Power.
Power�s CEO, Steve Vachani, compared Facebook�s policy to cell phone companies locking out third-party devices and applications from their wireless networks. To fight the case, the company has even hired Scott Bursor, a lawyer who successfully challenged this practice and obtained settlements.
�Data portability is an inalienable right,� Vachani said. �Facebook has historically been the one company that has dragged their feet on this.�
Facebook has its own platform for letting users access third-party sites using their logins for the social network. Facebook says more than 10,000 Web sites use the service, called Facebook Connect � though not Power.com.
While Facebook�s approach in creating a �walled garden� is in different from other social networks that are more open to third-party access, it is unclear whether Power�s claims can stand up in court.
Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of Harvard�s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, said some of Power�s counterclaims won�t fly.
�In my view Facebook isn�t a monopoly,� he said in an e-mail message. He added that much of the rest of Power�s claims are of the �squishy� variety, and the court has leeway to decide what amounts to unfair competition.
In a statement Friday, Facebook said called the lawsuit �without merit� and said it plans to fight Power aggressively.
�We have made numerous attempts to work with Power.com but, after making commitments to comply with our policies, they continued to put Facebook user data at risk,� Facebook said.
Zittrain called the debate over user data a healthy one to be having, adding that Power�s lawsuit �will be among those forces pushing Facebook to maintain and possibly expand its openness.�