When Facebook released its Sponsored Stories feature in January, many users instantly began complaining. Yesterday, a lawsuit concerning the feature survived Facebook's motion to dismiss.
Sponsored Stories connects a Facebook user's likes and check-ins to paid advertising. For example, if a user likes Nike, their name may appear on Nike's website when one of the user's Facebook friends visits the site. Though users can opt-out from being used in Sponsored Stories, it was automatically enabled for all users when released.
In Fraley v. Facebook, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145195 (N.D. Cal. 2011), the plaintiffs allege violations of the Communication Decency Act (CDA), among others. While Facebook argued in its motion to dismiss that the CDA "provides broad immunity" to websites like themselves, the court found that the statute may not extend to Facebook's actions in Sponsored Stories. The plaintiffs allege that that "Facebook creates content by deceptively mistranslating members' actions," making it an information content provider and, thus, not immune under the CDA.
ADVERTISEMENT
If you have a passion for preventing cyber crime and would like to make a career out of it, a masters programs in criminology can help you find the job you are looking for.
|
0 comments:
Post a Comment