facebook

Shortly after purchasing new cellular service from Verizon Wireless in November 2006, Lindsey Abrams of Patriot, Indiana began receiving explicit, 'adult' text messages on her phone. The unsolicited texts were delivered to her via Facebook, whose ... systems believed the number still belonged to its previous owner. Abrams was forced to shell out 10 cents for every message, and eventually became fed up and sued the social networking site. (Source: wirelessweek.com ) Ms. Abrams' lawyers had hoped to extend the allegations into a class action lawsuit claiming that thousands of unsolicited texts were ... (view more)

Now that Facebook has secured Microsoft with a lucrative advertising agreement, there's reason to believe the social networking site is ready to do some serious business. One pesky Canadian company hoping to hack the page recently found out just how ... serious that business really is. According to reports, Facebook recently filed a lawsuit against a Canadian company that attempted to hack Facebook's servers. Given the content of the company's page -- it displays explicit adult images -- there's reason to believe the Canadians hoped to splash the social site with a plethora of nudies. It's a case ... (view more)

Less than a month after Facebook announced its Beacon advertising program, the social-networking company has made a serious retreat from its initial plans. In a statement on Facebook's blog last Wednesday CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a public apology ... for the way Beacon was introduced. "We simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologize for it," Zuckerberg said. Beacon was Facebook's most recent attempt at finding a way to monetize the increasingly popular web site. The initial launch was announced on November 6, with 44 high-profile companies signed on for the kick-off. Beacon began as ... (view more)

Like a middle-aged guy shopping for the newest hip-hop CD, it seems ABC News is completely out of its element. In a recent announcement, it will join with Facebook in an attempt to lure the young social community into a Web 2.0 twist on the 2008 ... presidential election. The new application -- which will stand next to "Booze Mail", "LOLcats", and "Simpsons Quotes" on people's app lists -- will be called "U.S. Politics". Although the name sounds like a bad (or 'bird') first year university course, it will be constructed using ABC News editorial content. (Source: news.com ) According to David ... (view more)

In a strange reversal from two summers ago, last week young Syrians sought 'refuge' in neighboring Lebanon. The alleged reason for this exodus? Facebook. In a move to further restrict free speech and political activism in the country Bashar Assad's ... government shut down access to the fast-growing social network. (Source: globeandmail.com ) Advocate Dania al-sharif told Reuters last week that, "Facebook helped further civil society in Syria and form civic groups outside government control. This is why it has been banned." (Source: reuters.com ) Officials were apparently concerned that Israel ... (view more)

Facebook users and privacy groups have criticised a new advertising scheme from the social networking site. Designed to net Facebook more ad dollars, the program plays Big Brother with the site's loyal (and growing) membership. The 'Beacon' system ... is a partnership between Facebook and 44 other sites. Whenever a user visits one of these sites while logged in to Facebook, their activities are monitored. Certain events are then automatically posted on their Facebook news feed which can be seen by all of their online friends. The events which are reported include online purchases, movie rentals, ... (view more)

What's a bigger waste of time: Facebook or MySpace? According to one web security company, name recognition could be a problem for the latter. In the world of social networking, MySpace is the reigning royalty. Founded in August, 2003 and based out ... of sunny California, the site celebrated its hundred millionth account creation in August of 2006. Some 300 staff work out of its Beverly Hills headquarters. That kind of established name may not be so positive for MySpace when it comes to web filtering. In a survey released last week, security firm Barracuda Networks Inc. found that 44% of ... (view more)

Facebook appears to have decided not to fight Google's plans to bring social networking sites together. Jim Breyer, an investor and board member at Facebook, reportedly says the company would be willing to join Google's OpenSocial platform. That's a ... scheme by which programmers can more easily create applications that run on many different social networking sites. For example, a user could make a single blog post that is instantly viewable by their friends on both MySpace and Bebo. One of the main reasons for Facebook's success to date is that users can create their own applications such as ... (view more)

Last week, Microsoft proudly announced it was the new papa of the web's hippest and most powerful young site, Facebook. Now, even as they battle it out in other spheres, it appears both the Redmond-based company and Waterloo firm Research in Motion ... will be major contributors in shaping Facebook's future. Elsewhere in the tech world, Microsoft and Research in Motion, or RIM, are at each other's throats. Microsoft is currently unveiling its own server-based tool for managing Windows Mobile devices, dubbed "System Center Mobile Device Manager". It should provide direct competition for RIM's ... (view more)

As if social networking site Facebook wasn't already enough of a titan on the web, it's about to become even more powerful. Why? Because the Redmond gods have just injected it with $240 million bucks. That's right, Microsoft recently purchased a ... minority stake in Facebook, which accepted the bid over another from search engine giant Google. The deal with Microsoft will lead to an expansion of social networking services (as if Facebook didn't already have enough), and, sigh, more advertising. For those of you who have yet to dabble in Facebook -- and that number continues to dwindle every day ... (view more)