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From the “Thank God Congress Has Nothing Better to Do” Desk: Four U.S. Senators Write Stern Letter to Facebook

jfischer1975 — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:02:36 +0000

Plenty of whiny types are up in arms over Facebook’s recent “personalization” improvements, which automatically link fan pages for companies, bands, television shows, etc. to users’ profiles, based on their self-proclaimed favorites. Also, when a user specifies their favorite music, movies, books, and the like, that information may now be accessed more readily by parties not in that users’ friend list.

Critics complain that this gives unwanted access to evil corporations, who will use gathered information to exploit their consumers. This week four U.S. Senators, including asshat Al Franken, have put their displeasure with the social networking giant onto paper and mailed it to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

No doubt these idiots are only responding to angry phone calls from their constituents, but how many votes would they really lose by explaining that this really isn’t the kind of thing the federal government should be getting involved in? Not everything that someone can gripe about should be the subject of a congressional investigation. If you don’t like the way Facebook treats its users, you don’t have to be a member.

This article was originally published on The Legal Satyricon.

Class Settlement Notice Sent as Facebook Message?

jfischer1975 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:11:05 +0000

File under “can they do that?” Facebook notified me of a class settlement agreement, by sending me an in-network message:

click to enlarge

Facebook is sending you this notice of a proposed class action settlement that may affect your legal rights as a Facebook member who may have used the Beacon program. This summary notice is being sent to you by Court Order so that you may understand your rights and remedies before the Court considers final approval of the proposed settlement on February 26, 2010.

This is not an advertisement or attorney solicitation.

This is not a settlement in which class members file claims to receive compensation. Under the proposed settlement, Facebook will terminate the Beacon program. In addition, Facebook will provide $9.5 million to establish an independent non-profit foundation that will identify and fund projects and initiatives that promote the cause of online privacy, safety, and security.

For full details on the settlement and further instructions on what to do to opt out of, object to, or otherwise comment upon the proposed settlement, please go to http://www.BeaconClassSettlement.com.

An email is also being sent to the address associated with your Facebook account.

I never got the email.

Facebook proves that its terms are not Free Speech friendly

jfischer1975 — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:44:52 +0000

Facebook has confirmed that they have removed two group pages belonging to holocaust deniers after receiving pressure from members of the public, including attorney Brian Cuban (brother of entrepreneur Mark Cuban).

A Facebook spokesperson explained that “if the discussion among [a group's] members degrades to the point of promoting hate or violence, despite whatever disclaimer the group description provides, we will take them down. This has happened in the past, especially when controversial groups are publicized.”

As a private organization, Facebook is certainly entitled to take these actions. It is unfortunate, however, that they find it necessary to do so. The “marketplace of ideas” is capable of labeling the members of these groups as asshats and rejecting their hate speech. Freedom means ignoring viewpoints you don’t agree with, not censoring them.

This story was originally published on The Legal Satyricon.

Facebook Caves to User Pressure

jfischer1975 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:48:16 +0000

A few days ago, Facebook announced that it would be changing its terms of service. The updated terms made changes with regard to intellectual property ownership of content that users posted to the site. The changes were denounced as oppressive by many blog commentators. Apparently in response to the negative “press,” Facebook has reversed course, posting the following message on the “home” page for all users.

This story was originally published on The Legal Satyricon.