The MySpace Indictment Gets Worse -- And Facebook Tells Google to Stuff It

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: May 17, 2008 6:59:36 PM EDT
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Cc: "lauren () vortex com" <lauren () vortex com>
> Subject: The MySpace Indictment Gets Worse -- And Facebook Tells  
> Google to Stuff It

> The MySpace Indictment Gets Worse -- And Facebook Tells Google to  
> Stuff It
>
>                http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000386.html
>
>
> Greetings.  Presented for your reading (and my typing) convenience,
> here are two unrelated "social networking" items combined into one
> posting.
>
> First, more information has become available regarding the MySpace
> suicide indictment that I discussed a couple of days ago, and it
> appears that the risks I outlined then look even worse now
> ( http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000385.html ).
>
> Many legal experts seem to be generally in agreement that the
> anti-hacking law invoked in this case was never meant for this kind
> of situation and is really pushing the prosecutorial discretion
> envelope.  Perhaps even worse, the conspiracy count attempts to
> prosecute a claimed conspiracy to violate MySpace's Terms of Service
> (TOS), and the creation of a phony "identity" on that site.
>
> Wait a minute.  Is simply violating the often insanely long and
> complex TOS at a site now a <i>criminal</i> offense, especially as
> relates to not telling the truth, all the truth, and nothing but the
> truth when creating an online presence?
>
> If you've never entered false information when signing up at a Web
> site, please raise your hand ... Hmm, not a lot of hands raised out
> there.
>
> In this particular case, pretty much any young MySpace user could
> apparently have rather easily gained access to the profile and
> related information in question, but the authorities are attempting
> to prosecute an act of "phony identity" because -- apparently --
> they can't find any truly appropriate statute to apply in this
> tragic harassment suicide case.
>
> Already, I'm seeing news stories with headlines suggesting that
> using false identities on the Web might get you arrested.  Please
> see my earlier postings for more discussion about why this is
> potentially such a dangerous situation for law-abiding Web users
> ( http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000385.html ).
>
> Onward to the next topic very briefly ...  Facebook has pulled the
> plug on their connection to Google's "Friend Connect" service,
> claiming privacy violations on Google's part.  I won't get into the
> details right now but since I've been asked about this I'll offer
> just a quick comment today.
>
> As far as I can see, this situation is all about Facebook attempting
> to protect its own competitive position and essentially nothing
> whatever to do with privacy.  I see no privacy-related problem with
> Google's handling of "Friend Connect" as relates to Facebook or
> other sites.  It is clear that Facebook loses some element of
> control when users join "Friend Connect" -- but those users still
> have appropriate controls over their own privacy settings through
> the Google service.
>
> If Facebook doesn't want to participate in the Google initiative
> that's Facebook's choice, but to inappropriately claim a purported
> privacy problem as a lame excuse undermines discussion and
> appropriate consideration of real privacy issues generally, and
> should not be tolerated.
>
> After their "Beacon" fiasco -- a real privacy problem of their own
> making -- I'd hoped Facebook would be a bit more forthcoming, but
> apparently they still have a lot to learn.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, NNSquad
>   - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
> Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com

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