Internet Law
Facebook Retreats After Dustup Over Expansive Terms of Use
Posted Feb 18, 2009, 07:46 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Screen shot of today's Facebook post.
Faced with a firestorm of controversy over a change in its fine print, Facebook has reverted to previous terms of use that limit the social networking site’s ability to use content posted by users.
Facebook announced its retreat in a message posted on its home page, the New York Times reports.
The expanded terms of use received little notice until the Consumerist blog pointed them out on Sunday. Facebook’s previous license to use posted content expired when the material was removed. But Facebook deleted the provision, Consumerist said in the Sunday post. The blog had interpreted the change to mean “anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later.”
The blogosphere was abuzz with criticism, prompting the about-face by Facebook. “Over the past few days, we have received a lot of feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago,” the Facebook message says. “Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.”
The Consumerist has posted a Facebook statement about the new decision, made early Wednesday morning.
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