Continuing to demand the technically impossible, a court in India issued another threat against Facebook, threatening to block the social network and other websites, including Google, if “offensive and objectionable” content is not removed.

Read the rest of this entry »

We highly doubt this particular rumor would ever come true, but the blogosphere and Twitterverse are chattering that Facebook could pull the plug in protest over the Stop Online Piracy Act pending in the U.S. Congress.

Consider a day without Facebook — or Google, Twitter, Wikipedia or Yahoo, for that matter. 

These heavily trafficked web sites are joining Facebook in considering a coordinated blackout as a powerful demonstration of what the Internet might look like if SOPA went into effect.

While implementation at this point seems unlikely — it’s dubbed the “nuclear option” after all — the rumor mill went into high alert after Markham Erickson, an executive with the industry trade group NetCoalition, confirmed to Fox News that companies were mulling over a blackout of services, despite what a boycott would do to users.

“Companies typically don’t want to put their users in that position,” Erickson said. ”The difference is that these bills so fundamentally change the way the Internet works. People need to understand the effect this special-interest legislation will have on those who use the Internet.”

So what might a boycott look like? Would Facebook go completely dark, or would users be re-directed to a site that posted a message about SOPA.  And, would Facebook ask users to take action–write a letter to a member of Congress, sign an online petition, or share a message with friends?

Actually, Facebook is a great platform to launch that type of advocacy campaign. Anti-SOPA ads and sponsored stories could be developed,  and of course, the option to share links to anti-SOPA news stories would spread quickly on the social networking site and could build support against the legislation.

Opponents claim one provision of the controversial bill would require Internet providers to monitor customers’ traffic and block web sites suspected of copyright infringement, which sets off alarms among Facebook and its counterparts.

SOPA is scheduled for a debate in the U.S. Senate in late January before its put to a vote.

Readers, what would you do if Facebook went offline for a day?

Facebook and seven major online companies have endorsed an alternative online piracy bill that they believe would keep the Internet open and foster innovation.

The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade, or OPEN Act, is co-sponsored by Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California and Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon. 

The legislation is an alternative to the Stop Online Piracy Act, and its counterpart, Protect IP.

Facebook and other oppenents of SOPA claim it would restrict the Internet in ways that would not only result in censorship but also create information monopolies.

Web firms oppose the provisions in SOPA that would require search engines and other sites to delete links to sites deemed to be “dedicated” to copyright infringement.

The online community argues such a requirement would result in censorship of the web, according to the political newspaper, The Hill.

The OPEN Act has the backing of Facebook and such Internet heavyweights as AOL, eBay, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga, which together co-signed a letter to legislators late last month.

The letter states that the OPEN Act’s ”approach targets foreign rogue sites without inflicting collateral damage on legitimate, law-abiding U.S. Internet companies by bringing well-established international trade remedies to bear on this problem.”

In a news release introducing the OPEN Act, Senator Wyden and Representative Issa claim that the proposal “fights the unauthorized sale of digital goods and protects Internet security, commerce and speech.”

The graphic below, taken from the OPEN Act’s website, compares the major piracy bills.

I had a chance to sit down with Thiago Barrella, marketing analyst at Yahoo Brazil, who manages the brand’s Facebook page, among other things. He believes in the power of authentic conversations enabled by social media, as well as the ability for social conversations to connect everyone in the future.  Read the rest of this entry »

Zynga’s newest game has already set a record in its first week, growing faster than any other application has during its first week on Facebook.
Read the rest of this entry »

A short horror video has made it to the top of our list of the fastest growing applications nine days after Halloween, followed by Zynga’s newest and edgiest game.
Read the rest of this entry »

Yahoo debuted an iPad app called IntoNow, which uses Facebook Connect to help create a social television-viewing experience.

Read the rest of this entry »

Quick quiz: What was “Project Titan?” Doesn’t ring a bell? Well, about a year ago, the blogosphere was all abuzz in anticipation for it. Still don’t remember? That was the code name for Facebook’s “Next Generation Messaging” system — the supposed Gmail, or even email killer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Facebook’s place at the top of the standings when it comes to online display advertising revenue would seem to be fairly secure, since it will reportedly overtake Yahoo this year, if it hasn’t happened already.

Read the rest of this entry »

Facebook and Yahoo are teaming up to test the famous 1960s social experiment alleging there are only six degrees of separation between most people on the planet.
Read the rest of this entry »