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.”

Vonage Launches One-Touch Facebook Calling App

Vonage announced last week the Vonage Mobile Application for Facebook, making it possible for users to call Facebook friends who have the same app directly from their friends list with a single touch. The new one-touch calling app is free and available for Facebook users worldwide.

“The Vonage Mobile app for Facebook is a tangible example of our commitment to deliver extraordinary value and a better communications experience for individuals and their social networks, across broadband-enabled devices, around the world” said Marc Lefar, Chief Executive Officer of Vonage Holdings Corp. in a press release. “This is just the start. In the future we will expand on this service to include a wide range of integrated voice and messaging services that change the way people communicate.”

After downloading the application, the user will need to enter their Facebook ID and password. The app will automatically load Facebook contacts and the Vonage logo will appear next to the friends who have downloaded the same app. Users can call any friend without having to be online.

Facebook’s Privacy Controls Now Mobile

Facebook has now made it possible for more than 500 million users to control how they connect and share information on the social networking site via any browser-enabled mobile device.

According to the announcement, Facebook users can now access privacy settings from any location regardless of the type of device they have. The company boasts to be one of the few companies that offer the same privacy controls to their mobile users as the desktop version.

“Wherever you are connecting and sharing through Facebook, you should be able to make real time decisions over your information. Now you can,” wrote Michael Eyal Sharon, Facebook’s mobile product manager, in a post on the company blog.

By utilizing privacy controls, users can authorize important information such as who can see the content they post on a day-to-day basis. Users can also fully customize granular settings and read Facebook’s privacy guide.

Users can access privacy controls on mobile by going to m.facebook.com/privacy or by going to the Settings page and clicking the “Change” link next to the words “Privacy Settings.”

Facebook Can Help Find Answers

Facebook has rolled out the beta version of Facebook Questions, a new way for users to pose questions to the more than 500 million people in the Facebook community. Currently only available to a limited number of people, Facebook Questions allows users to “get a broader set of answers and learn valuable information from people knowledgeable on a range of topics,” wrote director of product management Blake Ross in a Facebook blog post.

Facebook Questions offers numerous filters designed to help users find the answers they’re searching for. When asking a question, for example, users have the option to add a photo or a poll.

You can also tag your question with a specific topic, making it visible to people who have expressed interest in the same topic. The tagging feature also allows users to see what others are asking about the same topics. Users can even browse through other users’ questions to “find ones you may have never thought to ask,” said Ross.

Ross reminds users that all questions and answers posted using Facebook Questions are public, meaning that they will be visible to everyone on the Internet. However, if you want to ask a question to a specific group of people, the application allows you to write a question as a status update on your profile and target those people.

Amazon Taps Into Facebook Networks for Recommendations

CNET.com reports that Amazon has entered into a partnership with Facebook that will let shoppers search for gift ideas by accessing their friends’ profiles. The beta version of this new feature was launched in the “Recommendations” section of the Amazon website and will suggest gift ideas for friends based on their Facebook pages along with letting people use their own Facebook profile to come up with personal purchase recommendations.

Customers can choose to “Tap into Your Facebook Network” and link their Amazon and Facebook accounts. The opt-in program warns customers that they will be sharing your own personal information and the information of friends. Once accepted, Amazon will use the movies, TV shows, music and other items which are the favorites of your friends on Facebook to develop gift recommendations.

Amazon has attempted to alleviate privacy concerns by agreeing not to share account information or buying history with Facebook or attempt to market to the Facebook contacts of their customers. The service can be disconnected to remove any Facebook content from a person’s Amazon account.

Facebook Reaches 500 Million Users

Facebook announced today that 500 million people are now using the social networking site. Along with hitting a new milestone, Facebook reminded users of the few big numbers the company deals with on a daily basis:

• 100 billion hits per day
• 50 billion photos
• Two trillion objects cached, with hundreds of millions of requests per second
• 130TB of logs every day

In a post on the Facebook Engineering Bobby Johnson said, “We’re very proud to have built a site that 500 million people want to use, and a site that still works with 500 million people using it.”

He added, “But this is really just the start. We’re hoping that in the not too distant future there will be another 500 million people, and that these principles will help us overcome whatever new challenges arise on the way there.”

Facebook Increases Privacy Requirements for Applications

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Facebook is rolling out a new security feature to help give users more security that their private information will not be misused. The new feature requires outside applications and websites to tell users exactly what parts of their profile they need to access in order to work.

In the past, applications had to ask for permission before accessing private profile information but there were no requirements about stating exactly why they needed such information. This information can include photos, friends’ birthdays or e-mail addresses.

The rollout of the new security feature is being done in cooperation with Canada’s privacy commissioner, who was among the first and most vocal critics of Facebook’s recent privacy policy changes. The decision to change the privacy policy for applications was first announced in April.

Next Page »