online ownership

Facebook wants everyone to relax following reports about recent changes in its Terms of Service which led to legitimate outcries from different sectors concerned about online ownership rights. Among those incensed by this recent development is celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who is calling for a Facebook boycott and saying that the site will forever own your content even if you have decided to close your account. Reps from Facebook have been on damage control ever since, claiming that they never said that they owned your stuff, and that the content will always be subject to the privacy settings chosen by the user even after the account has been closed. Nonetheless, they still maintain that the content may be used "in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof." Their argument that users "generally expect and understand this behavior" is tenuous and illusory. As with any fine print, most people skip reading the Terms of Service part to immediately begin using the service, and then proceed to upload every single photo documenting their recent trip to wherever. Those who will probably be the most affected are users who upload genuinely creative and marketable content. But it is doubtful whether this will in any way lessen the reliance placed on the site by thousands of other users who just want to share and vent. After all, founder Mark Zuckerberg offered an assurance that is undoubtedly less cryptic than the actual TOS itself: "We wouldn't share your information in a way you wouldn't want."