bkdelong: (Default)
[personal profile] bkdelong
Deja vu all over again.

Please forgive the spelling/grammar etc as I'm doing this on the phone but if I wait to get these words out it will take too long.

The gist.

Facebook's Terms of Service now say something to the effect of as of Feb 4th if you close your account, we reserve the right to keep and use any content left on it forever.

It used to say we can use anything io until an expiration date.. This is the big change. I need to check this more thoroughly when I get home and will add in links.

I see a lot of posts similar to the fear of the Russian takeover of LJ. People leaving and deleting their accounts and planning to.

My point is this:

We as Facebook users made it what it is. We created and built the networks by inviting our friends, family and collegues. We built the content by posting notes, items, photos, videos and to walls. We populated the various apps and games with tons of information and, in many cases, built tons of apps using Facebook's proprietary. Platform.
We connected Facebook to our Livejournals, Flickr, Gmail, picasa, Mobile phones, Pandora, Last.FM, Twitter, LinkedIn and hundreds of other Web 2.0 accounts using apps. What about that data ?

For all intents and purposes, we made Facebook what it is. Can it no longer sustain itself in this economy on the ad model? Then say so. Do they need to charge a fee or find some means of funding usage? Then say so. Don't claim to own my intellectual property and memories due to a TOSs just because you want to lock me in for fear of gods know what.

To the people leaving, I understand. But I do suggest before you do, please take the time to write a well-thought out note to Facebook, Mark Zuckerburg and anyone else there telling them your reasons in great detail and, if comfortable, Post it in public for all to read. Include the phrase "Facebook doesn't own my Digital Lifestream" perhaps as a means of finding these posts.

But I also encourage you to stay. Spend the next few days educating your friends with intelligent articles and commentary on what Facebook is doing and why it is wrong. Encourage them to posy and diseminate this meme of information on why owning your digital lifestream (or whatever you want to call it) for the purposes of resale and reuse to anyone and everyone is wrong. Then encourage them to read the TOS themself and submit feedback to Facebook via the feedback link.

Since we built this several million strong network of contacts, we can also communicate to this Global Frequency and hope they too will demand recognition for what we created. We ackowledge the Facebook platform and architecture has presently won the social network war but that does not mean they own the civilian casualties and spoils.
If in the end change does not happen, Facebook does not change the TOS, join and show a firm, active and quick commitment to the Open Web Initiative, or show some other acknowledgement of their members' contribution only then, perhaps, would I suggest everyone backup what they can and leave to whatever enclaves they can find.

Facebook took no such pledge of "Do No Evil" and this never set any expectations of such.
One would hope they'd have a desire to set an example.

As you're spreading the word, keep in mind Facebook has a great many famous and powerful figures in acting, music, business, technology, and politics.

One point that occurred to me is that I wonder with President Obama utilizing YouTube to communicate to his employees and so heavily utilizing Facebook for his campaign, how he would feel about a company stating that they own any and all content of his citizens and constituents lives for reuse and resale at well whether they pot out through deletion or not.

What I fear is everything privacy locked. Does that mean Facebook owns all that as well?

I wonder what all those celebrities who brought their social network to Facebook think about that.

Spread the word and educate.

Date: 2009-02-16 11:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hammercock.livejournal.com
This is a prime example of why I don't put much of consequence on Facebook. :-/

Date: 2009-02-16 11:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] loosecanon.livejournal.com
I'm not a facebook user.

Is the amended TOS retro-active? Was there a forewarning so people could remove copyrighted material?

How does this affect copyright? How does copyright affect this?

This is a concerning step by a company which makes its reputation on benign neglect, and whether they decide to stick with the new plan or not, they have broken trust with their users sanctity. How upsetting.

Date: 2009-02-17 12:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] caitlyn-mc.livejournal.com
Guh. They broke facebook and the economy is even more broken. Has anyone started to suspect Voldemort?

Date: 2009-02-17 01:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moeyknight.livejournal.com
I have the same question as [livejournal.com profile] loosecanon - was there a warning so people could remove material they didn't want Facebook to have? I don't have any pics there except my profile pic, but I do stream my Flickr account there. I think I'm going to stop doing that. I had already disconnected my Twitter a while ago.

Really, I'm not a big fan of Facebook. I find it really annoying and hard to follow. I hate that every friend's thought and stupid snowball fight is on the same stream. Right now I'm not comfortable that everything I post there is permanent, so I probably won't put anything up but little status blurbs in the future if even that.

Date: 2009-02-17 01:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moria923.livejournal.com
I'm glad I'm not a Facebook user. This sounds outrageous. I try to be pretty circumspect even in LJ friends-locked posts. That's probably why I don't post more often.

Date: 2009-02-17 08:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shatter707.livejournal.com
I dropped off Facebook quite some time ago. Even back then, I was not allowed to delete my account. I could make it INACTIVE, but not deleted.

Would you like to know the real reason behind Facebook? I don't fear the people behind it. We have friends in high places too.

Facebook has always been a subset of teh NSA and the office of TIA. They funded it. It has and will be a front for domestic surveilence, as well as global. All yrou friends, where you worked, how you know people. You are right - the users created Facebook - and did all of the work of a massive team of gov't investigators. You supplied all this information voluntarily.

With this new administration, they are wanting to make sure they retain that data. So, as of the 4th, they now own everything you post on Facebook. They are making it clear so that when people are arrested based on who they know on facebook, or for saying anything negative, or a thought crime, or daring to question the citizenship of the current president, then they have what they need.

Do I sound Paranoid? So I have facts to back this up? Yes & Yes.

--S

Took your advice

Date: 2009-02-18 01:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tjkelly.livejournal.com
Took your advice, BK, and wrote about the issue to try to "spread the word and educate." Not a ton of new info, but I have my personal feelings and I'm publicizing the post to try to show as many people as possible. AND, I included your catchphrase, "Facebook doesn't own my digital lifestream" (http://www.tjkwebdesign.com).

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