re: Ask an Engineer: What do you think of the Facebook Terms of Service Flap?

February 22, 2009 · · Posted by Greg Lloyd

For a good example, see Nicolas Kolakowski's Feb 20, 2009 eWeek story Facebook Launches Social Widget for Facebook Connect :

"Facebook Connect allows users to sign on to other sites and blogs using their Facebook account information. Comments Box would allow these users to post comments on not only the outside Web site, but also their Facebook profiles, where they could be shared with other subscribers." - EWeek.com

When you close your Facebook account or decide to restrict access to a comment posted within Facebook, what do you expect to happen to the same comment posted to the outside site? Would you expect to be able to retract your comment on the outside site (not a common expectation)? How would you craft a legal agreement to meet "reasonable" expectations that Facebook and sites that use their API promise to obey and enforce?

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