Facebook Aims for Privacy Compliance with New Public Policy Hire [International]

Facebook has hired former American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Timothy Sparapani as its new director of public policy. The move could score points for the social networking site in the eyes of online privacy advocates that have expressed concern over its data privacy policies. It also will help Facebook fill a gap if its Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly runs for California Attorney General, as is anticipated.

Sparapani will start work with Facebook in late April, and will be based in Washington, D.C., reporting to Kelly. The company would not provide additional details about Sparapani or his role.
As a senior legislative counsel with the ACLU, Sparapani testified before U.S. Congress regarding issues such as The Real ID Act, arguing the proposed federal identification program represented a threat to privacy and constitutional rights. In a 2007 ACLU press release, he contended that government data mining "will turn us all into suspects."

Though it is unclear how Sparapani stands when it comes to data mining for advertising purposes, there are indications he could be sympathetic toward privacy advocates and other detractors of unregulated online data gathering and storage for ad purposes.

Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester said his organization, which has argued that Facebook's privacy policies are not stringent enough, has been working with Sparapani recently on privacy and online advertising issues. However, Chester expressed only cautious optimism regarding Sparapani's new role. "Does the announcement of the principles and the hiring of Tim indicate a kind of next generation Facebook?" asked Chester rhetorically. "I think it's too early."

He continued, "If Facebook thinks it can trade on [Sparapani's] relationship with [privacy groups]...then they're incredibly naive... Tim knows this community is willing to bite the hand that it just shook ten minutes ago."

The company came under fire last month after altering its terms of service, spurring an uproar among users and privacy protectionists regarding the amount of time Facebook could store user data. The firm quickly did an about-face, reverting to its original policy and presenting a new set of Facebook Principles and a Statement of Rights and Responsibilities for public comment. The firm has received thousands of comments and will close the commenting period March 29.

Chester's organization sent a letter to Facebook this week suggesting that the company needs to rewrite its proposed principles. For instance, the group stated the principles do not "discuss the gathering, mining, and sharing of user data. Users need to know how third-party developers use the data accessed or collected, including how the data is used for advertising and marketing."

Facebook sues Cayman Islands firm, alleges intellectual property infringements [International]

US-based social networking company Facebook has sued a Cayman Islands corporation and related parties for allegedly violating its intellectual property rights. According to Miami-based financial newsletter OffshoreAlert, details are contained in a civil complaint filed by Facebook, Inc., a Delaware corporation, at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Defendants in the complaint are Power Ventures, Inc., a Cayman Islands corporation; Power Ventures, Inc., d.b.a. Power.com, a California corporation; Steven Vachani, who "purports to be the CEO of Power.com"; and John Does, OffshoreAlert reported. "This action arises from Defendants' infringement of Facebook's trademarks and copyrights, their unauthorized solicitation, storage and use of Facebook users' login information to gain unauthorized access to Facebook's protected computer network and the unauthorized use of Facebook user accounts to send unsolicited commercial messages to other Facebook users,” the complaint stated Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites on the Internet and now has more than 132 million active users worldwide.

Facebook tightly controls access to its network, and implements a variety of features in order to protect the privacy and security of its users' personal information. One such security measure is the prohibition of soliciting or sharing user login information (i.e. username and password). OffshoreAlert reported that the defendants operate a website that offers to integrate multiple social networking accounts. “They have knowingly and willfully disregarded Facebook's protocols and procedures for accessing information stored on Facebook computers, and are offering a product that solicits, stores, and uses Facebook login information to access information stored on Facebook computers without authorization, and to display Facebook copyrighted material without permission.

The defendants are also inducing Facebook users to provide them with email addresses of their Facebook contacts ("Friends") for the purpose of sending unsolicited commercial messages that purposefully and falsely state that they come from "The Facebook Team" the complaint stated. The defendants have reportedly ignored repeated requests from Facebook to respect its intellectual property rights. They have also refused to cease their unauthorized access of Facebook's computer system, and to stop interfering with its relationships with its users. They have essentially admitted that their business violates Facebook's rights, but they informed Facebook that they made a "business decision" to continue on with the activities.

Mattel blocks 'Scrabulous' in India [Intellectual Property]

The networking site, Facebook, has restricted the popular “add-on” application, ‘Scrabulous’ to most users. Mattel Inc. owns Scrabble rights outside Canada and the United States of America and had approached the Indian courts in February 2008, seeking an order for taking down Scrabulous from Facebook and other servers.

The brothers, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, and their web-design and technology company, R J Software, were previously served a lawsuit by game-making giant Hasbro Inc., owner of Scrabble rights in Canada and the U.S. , at a New York federal court for violating its copyright and trademarks. Hasbro also sent a notice demanding that Facebook remove the application from the site. “Facebook took the unfortunate decision to restrict most users from accessing Scrabulous on August 22, in response to a ‘take down notice’ from Mattel on August 14,” said Mr. Jayant.

Mr. Jayant said, “The High Court had reserved judgement in this matter after hearing both parties. It surprises us that Mattel chose to direct Facebook to take down Scrabulous without waiting for the High Court’s decision.” He also sounded disappointed with Facebook as he said, “It is even more astonishing that Facebook, which claims to be fair and neutral party, took the step even though they were fully aware of the circumstances under which the Mattel letter was sent.”

“We now await the decision of the High Court and shall accordingly decide our future course of action regarding Scrabulous,” Mr. Jayant asserted.

Hasbro takes Facebook game Scrabulous to C-O-U-R-T [United States]

Game-making giant Hasbro has filed a lawsuit against Scrabble knock-off Scrabulous and sent a notice demanding Facebook remove the popular game from the social-networking website.
Scrabulous.com was launched by brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla in India in 2005 and rocketed to popularity as a free "add-on" application for Facebook, where more than 500,000 people reportedly play the online word game daily.

Toy and game manufacturers Hasbro and Mattel, which share ownership of the Scrabble trademark, asked Facebook in January to remove the renegade online version of its game from the website.

On Thursday, Hasbro presented the request to Facebook in the form of a demand backed by US law regarding copyright infringement on the Internet.

Hasbro also filed a lawsuit against Scrabulous and the Agarwalla brothers in federal district court in New York. "Facebook has tried to use its status as neutral platform provider to help the parties come to an amicable agreement," the California-based website said in response to an AFP inquiry. "We're disappointed that Hasbro has sought to draw us into their dispute; nevertheless, we have forwarded their concerns to Scrabulous and requested their appropriate response."

The lawsuit is weak leverage against the brothers, since Scrabulous lists no assets in the United States and a court decision here would need backing by India's legal system to be enforced. "Our hope and expectation is that the parties can resolve their disagreements in a manner that satisfies the parties, that continues to offer a great experience to gamers and that doesn't discourage other developers from using our platform to share creativity and test new ideas," Facebook said.

The Agarwallas have said in public reports that they expect fans to remain loyal to Scrabulous, from which the siblings earn advertising revenues. Filing of the civil suit comes a week after videogame colossus Electronic Arts released, with Hasbro's blessing, a free online Scrabble game customized for Facebook websites in the United States and Canada.

AOL pays $850m for Bebo in cash deal [International]

AOL has bought social networking site Bebo for $850 million in cash. The Time Warner-owned web services company said that the Bebo network would be a valuable place for it to sell advertising.

AOL began in the internet access business, but has expanded to offer instant messaging software AIM and ICQ. Social networking sites have been a phenomenon, with tens of millions of internet users keeping in touch and posting information about their lives on sites such as Bebo, Facebook and MySpace. Traditional business has been keen to buy into the phenomenon and instead of launching their own platforms, business giants have tended to buy into existing sites.

Bebo rival Facebook received $240 million in funding from Microsoft last October in a deal that valued the company at $15 billion. MySpace was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Coproration in 2005 for $580 million.

The Ethics of Online Networking [From Law.Com]

Colin Coleman, a business attorney in Needham, Mass., uses the networking site LinkedIn to build professional relationships and make introductions. Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Victoria Pynchon, who recently launched a commercial-litigation mediation practice, likes the way Facebookmimics a neighborhood and allows people to get to know her. And Southern California entertainment lawyer Richard Jefferson maintains a MySpace page to ensure his clients consider him cutting-edge.

While their focuses are different, all three attorneys share one trait: They've recognized the value of these social-networking sites to help support and expand their businesses. Social network usage is exploding. Facebook experienced a whopping 270 percent increase in unique visitors from June 2006 to June 2007, according to digital statistics company comScore. Leading site MySpace recently broke the 70 million monthly unique user mark, which translates to nearly one in four Americans. And LinkedIn spokesperson Jane Corrigan notes that of her site's more than 14 million members, a growing segment (at press time, about 212,000 members) are in the legal industry.

Early adopter attorneys are clearly at the forefront of a new networking movement. At the same time, these pioneers are blazing ethics trails into previously uncharted territory.

PITFALLS AND PERILS

As with any attorney venture, the use of social networking sites can be subject to state ethics rules and regulations. Just because the interaction is in cyberspace rather than the conference room doesn't make it immune to regulation. For instance, California State Bar ethics opinion 2004-166 found that an attorney's communication with a prospective fee-paying client in a mass-disaster victims Internet chat room violated Rule 1-400 of the state's Rules of Professional Conduct.

Many attorneys would protest that their social networking sites aren't designed to lure clients. But does that mean ethics rules don't apply? Says noted California legal ethics expert Diane Karpman, "On one level, it's free speech; lawyers do have a life. On the other level, there's this philosophy that everything a lawyer does is intended to generate business."

There are three major categories governed by state ethics regulations that are relevant to social networking sites: communications, solicitations and advertisements. Attorneys using such sites need to abide by the rules -- although in many cases, the guidelines may not be clear when it comes to the Internet.

COMMUNICATIONS

Based on several ethics opinion and the input of experts, there seems to be little doubt that e-mail and Web sites constitute communications. What does this mean for the lawyers using social networking sites? First and foremost, they must ensure that what they say on their pages is true. The American Bar Association's Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1 requires that a lawyer avoid false or misleading communication about the lawyer or his services. Social networking pages are notorious for their exaggerations and off-the-cuff commentary, so attorneys in particular should be vigilant that they don't engage in hyperbole or half-truths, even if it's specific to themselves and not their practices.

Facebook warned on safety claims [International]

The social networking website Facebook has been warned that it could face a consumer fraud charge for failing to live up to claims that youngsters there are safer from sexual predators than at most sites and that it promptly responds to concerns, a spokesman for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.

"We expect an immediate correction eliminating the dangers exposed by our investigation," said the spokesman, Jeffrey Lerner.

Cuomo announced last week that he had subpoenaed Facebook after he said the company did not respond to "many" complaints by investigators who were solicited for sex while posing as 12- to 14-year-olds on the site.

Officials from Cuomo's office met with Facebook on Friday after they said Facebook took three days to answer calls and emails from state investigators.

An official in Cuomo's office said he and others are scheduled to meet with Facebook representatives this week and anticipate changes will follow immediately.

"We said, 'You have got to make accurate representations on your website," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because court filings haven't yet been made. "What we told them is, 'Correct the language describing the site and stop marketing yourself as this pristine website ... parents have a misimpression. You can't mislead people."

Lerner said Facebook's contention of being safer than most sites was accurate when it started out as a closed site 3 1/2 years ago. But it's now much larger, and the safeguards and apparently the response times for complaints aren't what they once were, he said.

There was no immediate response to email and phone messages left for a Facebook representative. But a statement issued a week ago stated the company was concerned about Cuomo's claim that sexual predators could use the site to meet with children.

"We strive to uphold our high standards for privacy on Facebook and are constantly working on processes and technologies that will further improve safety and user control on the site," Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker said in the statement.

Lerner said Facebook has continued to promise to cooperate.