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CNET News Daily Podcast: Facebook faces growing pains

In response to a wave of criticism over the last few days, Facebook has reversed a change to its terms of service. Reporter Caroline McCarthy joins the podcast today and talks about Facebook's PR strategy around issues that have spurred user outrage.

Also in this podcast: A Pittsburgh couple loses its privacy fight against Google; cybercriminals exploit a patched IE7 hole; and the White House launches a site so citizens can track where all that stimulus money is going. Listen now: Download today's podcast

Today's stories:

New exploit targets IE 7 hole patched last week

White House launches Recovery.gov… Read more

Social-media survey asks for 'shotgun marriage'

During New York's inaugural "Social Media Week" festivities earlier this month, media-industry research firm Abrams Research (that's "Abrams" as in MSNBC's Dan Abrams, for the news junkies out there) conducted a survey about the perception of various social-media services within the industry. The results weren't too surprising: 30 percent of respondents would pay for Facebook (keep in mind that these respondents are people already active in the social-media world). They encourage businesses to think seriously about Twitter for marketing. Etc.

That's all good and fine. But what we really found hilarious … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 913: Purple-footed and pregnant

A new medical wiki will tell you why you shouldn't have painted your sister's toes purple, but apparently all online medical advice pages tell Natali she's pregnant. She's not. Facebook also backed down on its terms of service and Telstra is in trouble with Microsoft.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 913

Facebook backs down http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=54746167130

Grand Theft Auto IV adds episodic content http://www.cnet.com/8301-18603_1-10165231-73.html

Telstra boss Sol Trujillo’s mobile phone loaded with top-secret software stolen by pickpocket http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,25076154-5014239,00.html… Read more

Webware Radar: WeddingBook launches directory

WeddingBook, which allows engaged couples to search through the site's free directory to find local wedding vendors--ranging from reception locations to photographers to entertainers--launched in public beta Wednesday. According to the company, it will list each vendor for free on its site and the business owner can claim their listing and input specific details of their service, as well as upload photos and outline pricing information. Each listing also includes reviews, so the bride and groom can tell engaged couples what they thought of the company.

In what may add some drama to this announcement, popular wedding source The Knot … Read more

The 404 281: Where Clayton Morris swims with the fishes

From Fox and Friends, Clayton Morris joins us again today to talk about how to survive a shark attack by punching the killer fish, while Wilson tells you not to go in the water when you're on your monthly cycle. (Hint: piranhas are vampire lesbians.) Anyway, Wilson G. Tang here--your other favorite Asian podcaster--taking over for a Mr. Justin Yu for all your regularly scheduled blog posts. I can only hope to be half as funny as J. Yu, but I will certainly try.

In the meantime, we wax poetic about Facebook's changes in its terms of service. … Read more

Podcast: Privacy advocate, Facebook official speak out

As is now well known, Facebook angered some of its users and some privacy advocates when it recently changed its terms of service to give itself the right to permanently retain user information even if a user deletes an account.

That policy was rescinded after an uproar and a likely federal complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a Washington-based privacy watchdog group.

To try to better understand the issue, I spoke with EPIC's executive director, Marc Rotenberg, as well as Facebook's chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly.

Facebook's about-face: Change we can believe in?

Facebook has had another awkward coming-of-age moment.

Late on Tuesday night, the massive social network reversed a change to its terms of service (TOS) that had meant that its license on user content--a longstanding but little-publicized claim to an "irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license" for promotional efforts--would no longer expire if a member deleted his or her Facebook account.

Over the weekend a popular consumer advocacy blog, The Consumerist, declared the change a cause for alarm. Buzz started to spread: could Facebook make your personal photos public? Or could it hand over that drunken karaoke … Read more

Facebook needs transparency, not apologies

In the face of mounting criticism over its change to its terms of service, Facebook has reverted to its original terms of service, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology. It's a nice about-face, but it also misses the point.

The point, as Techdirt intimates, is transparency.

It's hard to think that nobody at Facebook anticipated it and took some proactive steps to address the changes and attempt to allay concerns and preclude the overreaction.

Instead, Zuckerberg responds only after the fuss has been kicked up, and his explanation comes off as damage control, regardless of the motivations … Read more

Facebook backs down on privacy terms

Facing a federal complaint from a leading privacy advocacy organization and a revolt of tens of thousands of its users, Facebook on Tuesday night backed down from what many have seen as an onerous privacy policy.

The policy had seemed to grant Facebook perpetual rights to users' uploaded content, and the threatened complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) had demanded, essentially, that the social-networking service return to its previous terms.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post late Tuesday that the company had decided to do just that:

Many of us at Facebook spent most of … Read more