Facebook’s ridiculous new Terms Of Service and alternatives

I eased my stance on uploading photos to Facebook awhile ago because most of my friends there weren’t necessarily using Flickr.[1. I limited myself to uploading photos of my friends.] But, the recent change to their Terms of Service (TOS)[2. On their website, it’s also called “Terms of Use.”] is unacceptable.

From Consumerist:

Facebook’s terms of service (TOS) used to say that when you closed an account on their network, any rights they claimed to the original content you uploaded would expire. Not anymore.

Now, anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later. Want to close your account? Good for you, but Facebook still has the right to do whatever it wants with your old content. They can even [sub license] it if they want.

I feel that I have no choice but to close my account.

But where can you go without Facebook?

Try:

• Twitter for status updates – I’m @bryan
• FriendFeed to share web stuff and see things your friends and contacts are interested in – I’m bryanvillarin
• Flickr, Zenfolio[3. Use my referral code for a $5 discount: 8E1-4V5-FH4], or Smugmug for sharing photos – I’m bryanvillarin on Flickr and my Zenfolio-powered website is Bryan Villarin Photography.com
• E-mail for direct correspondence – see my contact page

Update 2/16/2009 10:25pm — Here’s more insight across the web:

• Facebook terms of service compared with MySpace, Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (Amanda L. French, Ph.D.)
• Facebook Clarifies Terms Of Service: “We Do Not Own Your Stuff Forever” (Consumerist)
• Facebook Change of Policy: Why You Should Care (Pixel Bits)
• Word of advice: get your blog content off Facebook ASAP (The Inquisitr)
• Yet Another Reason Why I Don’t Trust Facebook (Webomatica)

Update 2/16/2009 11:54pm — A couple more?

• I’m Done With Facebook (Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits)
• Facebook’s Terms of Use Go From Bad to Worse (Photo Attorney)

Update 2/17/2009 10:20am — Jim Goldstein analyzes Facebook’s new Terms of Use to explain why this affects you. He also gets interviewed by Joe Vazquez of KPIX (San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose). Definitely one of the most thorough.

I forgot to mention another service: WordPress.com (or WordPress if you have your own domain name and server). They won’t take your intellectual property.

My Facebook account is deactivated. (Why deactivated? Because they don’t let you delete your account.)

I do need to create a terms of use page here, which will tell anyone not to upload my photos to Facebook.

Update 2/17/2009 8:38pm — Oops. You can delete your account through this link. Just make sure you’re 100% positive because there’s no turning back. (via Jim Goldstein / PlagarismToday)

Also…

The backlash against Facebook’s updated privacy policies is about to expand. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is preparing to file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over the social network’s updated licenses, PC World has learned.

“We think that Facebook should go back to its original terms of service,” says EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg.

EPIC expects to have its complaint submitted to the FTC by the end of Tuesday. [PC World / Yahoo News]

[via Jim Goldstein on Twitter]