It appears in the wake of global attention and outcry, Facebook has reverted back to the previous Terms of Service. Phew, now we can all go back to sending each other digital cupcakes without Big Brother watching us. This is a temporary move until Facebook can draft a new Terms of Service that addresses the users' concerns.
-These are the Terms of Service changes that made headlines everywhere:
"You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof."
And the real kick in the pants was the removal of several key sentences towards the end of the paragraph:
"You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content."
Furthermore:
"The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other."
Initially, Zuckerberg responded to the protests by saying, "In reality, we wouldn't share your information in a way you wouldn't want." As we all know, there's reality, and then there's lawyers. His "philoshopy" was benign, but was not reflected in the legal language. It's good to see it now will be, and that Facebook has made clear their intent to move towards a policy that more explicitly safeguards the copyrights and privacies of its users.
Make sure you never upload anything you don't feel comfortable giving away forever, because it's Facebook's now.
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