Facebook Sues Teachbook Over “-book” Naming Rights

A new online community for teachers called Teachbook is popular for all the wrong reasons. That’s because social media giant Facebook has sued the fledgling site for copyright infringement. According to PC Magazine, Facebook claims that the fact that Teachbook’s use of the term “-book” at the end of its name “pilfers a distinctive part of the Facebook.”

“If others could freely use ‘generic plus book’ marks for online networking services targeted to that particular generic category of individuals, the suffix book could become a generic term for ‘online community/networking services’ or ‘social networking services,’” according to Facebook. “That would dilute the distinctiveness of the Facebook marks, impairing their ability to function as unique and distinctive identifiers of Facebook’s goods and services.”

Teachbook is scheduled to launch this fall and is a social media site intended to allow teachers to connect to each other and discuss various learning strategies. Facebook claims that Teachbook is a competitor because its services “are the same as and/or related to some of the services provided by Facebook, [and] while Facebook does not object to [Teachbook's] provision of online social networking services, it does object to [Teachbook's] use of the infringing and dilutive Teachbook mark while doing so.”

Teens Want to Unfriend Parents on Facebook

The Los Angeles Times reports that almost a third of Facebook teens want to unfriend their parents on the social networking site, according to an AOL study released earlier this week.

The AOL study, which was conducted with Nielsen Co., surveyed 1,000 parents and 500 teens and revealed that 16 percent of the teens said they’re leaving Facebook because their parents have joined. Another 14 percent agreed the social networking site is too crowded with adults.

The reason? Imagine being dropped off at the middle school dance by your mother who yells last minute advice out the car window. Teens are embarrassed by nagging or uncool comments posted by Mom or Dad and believe that they no longer have the privacy they once did on Facebook. The problem is so widespread that the YouTube video “My Mom’s on Facebook” got 1.2 million views, according to the article.

However, parents — specifically mothers — have a different point of view. According to the readers’ responses to the Los Angeles Times article, many mothers agree they have better things to do on Facebook than stalk their children.

One mother wrote, “Guess what, this mom is more interested in her own network of friends. I keep an eye on the kids but spend most of my Facebook time interacting with people I know from work, fellow college alumni, and so forth. “

She added, “My teens, like most teens, have a bad case of ‘it’s all about ME’ syndrome, but I’m really not there to humiliate them.”

Still, the Times suggests that this could be the reason why by nearly one in five teens are losing interest in Facebook, according to a survey released by ROIWorld.

Facebook Irked at Party Scene in New Movie About its Founding

Facebook could be coming to a theater near you soon — and the company isn’t exactly thrilled about it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Facebook executives aren’t happy with the tone and content of a planned movie from Sony Pictures which details the rise of the social media giant. Written by “The West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network” depicts a partially fictionalized account of the founding of Facebook.

Among the scenes that Facebook is apparently unhappy with is one where Napster co-founder and key early Facebook executive Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake) delivers a big speech at a wild party while teenage girls “offer lines of cocaine from their breasts.” Facebook has been reviewing the script for several months and producer Scott Rudin said that several small changes have been made.

However, Rudin said that he will be keeping the controversial party scene — with Sorkin admits never actually happened — in the movie, although it is not done with final editing. In fact, Rudin said that his main concern with the scene was whether it would jeopardize the movie’s planned PG-13 rating.

Redondo Beach Says No to Facebook

Dailybreeze.com reports that Redondo Beach has decided to delete its Facebook page after the City Attorney highlighted possible legal issues with maintaining a page on the popular social networking site.

According to the article, potential legal concerns pointed out by City Attorney Mike Webb include whether Redondo Beach would have to retain user comments under the state’s Public Records Acts, how officials would handle erroneous or vulgar posts protected by First Amendment rights and whether Facebook posts attracting comments from three or more council members would constitute a violation of the state’s open meetings law.

Although the City Council’s decision was to shut down its Facebook account, council members agreed the city will continue using other networking sites such as Twitter and YouTube.

“Social media is inevitable, but we just think from a legal point of view Facebook has too many complications,” said Webb in the article. “I would just prefer that the case law not have city of Redondo Beach in the title.”

The mayor, on the other hand, disagrees with the move. According to the article, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin started a Facebook page earlier this year dedicated to saving the Seaside Lagoon, a local salt water swim park.

“We’re an open book. We’re supposed to be an open book,” said Gin. “I think we just need to suck it up, and we need to embrace it.”

Bain Joins Twitter as First Head of Revenue

Twitter continues to build an impressive sales team as it looks to monetize the popularity of its micro-blogging service. Tech Crunch reports that Twitter has hired News Corp. executive Adam Bain as its new head of revenue. Reporting directly to Twitter COO Dick Costolo, Bain will be responsible for helping to implement Twitter’s new revenue-generating models by becoming its first President, Revenue.

Twitter has moved aggressively in recent weeks to add muscle to its sales and advertising arm. The company recently brought Dan Coughlin from Facebook and Amanda Levy from Yelp to head up its East Coast and West Coast sales forces respectively. Tech Crunch also reports that Twitter has lured Google sales executive Brent Hill from Google to be in charge of sales in the Midwest region.

Bain was most recently the President of the Fox Audience Network, the arm of News Corp. in charge of monetizing online properties such as IGN and MySpace.

North Korea Joins Twitter

The Los Angeles Times reports that the North Korea government has officially joined Twitter, posting messages under the user name “Uriminzok,” which means “our people.”

Although North Korea denies its citizens Internet access, Twitter continues to see plenty of accounts claiming to be from where U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley calls the “Hermit Kingdom.”

According to the L.A. Times, Crowley on Tuesday welcomed North Korea to the social media network and tweeted:

“The Hermit Kingdom will not change overnight, but technology once introduced can’t be shut down. Just ask #Iran. #Korea”

He then added, “…North Korean government has joined Twitter, but is it prepared to allow its citizens to be connected as well?”

Axl Rose’s Twitter Account Hacked

Guns N’ Roses fans in the U.K. were crestfallen this past weekend to read a Twitter post by lead singer Axl Rose that the popular 80’s music group were cancelling their upcoming tour, which was scheduled to include headlining performances at the popular Reading and Leeds Festivals in late August. It was depressing news for British Guns N’ Roses fans but not terribly surprising given the band’s sporadic touring schedule and the well-publicized fickleness of Rose.

However, it appears that the mourning over the loss of the tour dates was premature. MSNBC.com reports that the tour is still moving ahead and that Rose’s Twitter message that the tour was cancelled was apparently the result of his account being hacked.

There was no word about how Rose’s Twitter account was hacked; however, the fact that the message was posted two days after Guns N’ Roses gave an extremely late and poorly-received show at the Sturgis motorcycle rally is a potential clue that a disgruntled fan might have found a way to get their revenge on Rose for the band’s below-average performance.

Twitter Announces Official Tweet Button

Twitter unveiled the Tweet Button Monday making it easier for users to share links on Twitter directly from any Web page. The Tweet Button also allows website owners and publishers of all sizes to increase traffic and their Twitter following.

In accordance with the launch of the Twitter Button, the company has partnered with third-party “retweet button” creator TweetMeme, who will assist Twitter with the technical challenges involved with the official Twitter Button.

“We’re pleased to be working closely with the good folks at TweetMeme and, from here on out, they will be pointing to the Twitter Tweet Button,” Twitter said in a blog post.

Cowell Turns to SEO to Change His “Mean” Image

Simon Cowell’s new gig as one of the judges (and executive producers) of the U.S. version of his hit British TV show “X Factor” means that his reputation as the “King of Mean” judges on “American Idol” might not suit him so well. The New York Daily News reports that many observers are suggesting that Cowell has turned to search engine optimization tactics such as negative suppression to turn around his public persona.

Judges on “X Factor” mentor certain performers and help them gain favor with the voting audience. This means that Cowell will want people at home to like him in order to get behind the acts he is mentoring. One way that Cowell might be doing this is to push negative articles about him on online sites down in search engine results while promoting articles that feature him in a positive light.

Although his spokesperson denies that this is happening, several experts believe that an SEO firm like Reputation Management Consultants - which has a strong UK presence - could be behind the sudden rise of positive Simon Cowell webpages as Web site results.

Former Universal Music and EMI executive and blogger Hans Ebert has also accused SEO firms working on behalf of Cowell of doing more sinister activities. A blog post he made that was critical of Cowell’s stint on “American Idol” was pulled for 12 hours after Wordpress received a complaint that it violated its Terms of Service. The blog was restored and Ebert traced the source of the problems to a firm in Bangladesh which has been hired by a London SEO firm in the past to monitor Web activities relating to certain celebrities.

Twitter Unveils New SMS Messaging Features

Twitter has added new features to its micro-blogging service making it more SMS-friendly.

One of the new features includes Fast Follow, a way for people in the U.S. — including those without Twitter accounts — to receive Tweets on their phones. According to Twitter, users can experience Fast Follow anytime they see a Twitter @username at a restaurant or store, on a billboard or on TV.

In a post on the Twitter blog, the company gives this illustration: “For example, let’s say you want to get Tweets from New York City’s office of emergency management (@NotifyNYC). Just text ‘follow NotifyNYC’ to 40404 in the US.”

Another new SMS-friendly feature available on Twitter is the ability to receive an SMS message on your phone anytime selected people Tweet. Users can select people by hovering over their name or avatar and clicking on the phone icon that appears in the hovercard. Users can easily turn the SMS alerts on or off by sending ‘on [username]’ or ‘off [username]’ to 40404 in the US.

Finally, to keep up with the latest Tweet, users can text ‘Get [username]’, which will send that user’s most recent Tweet to your phone, even if you don’t follow them.

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