[IP] The MySpace Indictment Gets Worse -- And Facebook Tells Google to S

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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