Facebook, and rights grabs
Aug. 16th, 2009 02:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumI've written before about the sweeping claims (and specious reasoning) Facebook makes in their ToS (all your content is belong to us). I've said I'm, perhaps, overblowing it.
Then I see them using things like people's photos in ads and I wonder.
Well they just upped the ante. Facebook bought FriendFeed, to the tune of 47.5 million. The idea is, almost certainly, to streamline the reposting of things, but the nature of such services is that people who now don't post their flickr stream, or their Blogger, HuffPo, etc., comment and the like to their Facebook stream will start.
Which is good business for Facebook. It gets more eyes on the screen, which gets more exposure for whatever it is Facebook is selling (which is probably eyes on the screen). But it also means a whole lot more content which Facebook suddenly gets the absolute right to mine for profit. It might suddenly become profitable to hire people to run data-mining for photos suitable for a stock agency (forgive me if my personal interests lead me to photography related exploitations of peoples creative efforts).
It's not impossible, and, given the almost certain to be huge influx of Facebook linked content, I'd bet a decent sum that it will happen.
Then I see them using things like people's photos in ads and I wonder.
Well they just upped the ante. Facebook bought FriendFeed, to the tune of 47.5 million. The idea is, almost certainly, to streamline the reposting of things, but the nature of such services is that people who now don't post their flickr stream, or their Blogger, HuffPo, etc., comment and the like to their Facebook stream will start.
Which is good business for Facebook. It gets more eyes on the screen, which gets more exposure for whatever it is Facebook is selling (which is probably eyes on the screen). But it also means a whole lot more content which Facebook suddenly gets the absolute right to mine for profit. It might suddenly become profitable to hire people to run data-mining for photos suitable for a stock agency (forgive me if my personal interests lead me to photography related exploitations of peoples creative efforts).
It's not impossible, and, given the almost certain to be huge influx of Facebook linked content, I'd bet a decent sum that it will happen.
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-16 10:03 pm (UTC)Rights grubbers annoy me.