Slashdot Mirror
Facebook Goes After Greasemonkey Script Developer
palmerj3 writes "The popular Facebook Purity greasemonkey script (now renamed Fluff Buster Purity) has been used by thousands to rid their Facebook feeds from the likes of Mafia Wars, Farmville, and other annoying things. Now, Facebook is threatening the developer of this script. Does Facebook have the right to govern their website's design and functionality once it's in the browser?"
No. They don't...
Sorry, you distributed content, we can throw it in the trash if we like
-- Who is the bigger fool? The fool or the fool who follows him? --
here comes the Streisand effect
Someday we'll hit the human carrying capacity. And the band will just play on.
Of course they don't, but it doesn't matter because the developer can't possibly afford to defend himself so he'll comply because it doesn't matter if you're right if you're homeless. I wish judges were a little more liberal with SLAPP summary judgments against litigious corporations.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
I don't see how this is any different than running noscript, or redirecting entries in your host file to 127.0.0.1... Even if this does go to court, I doubt Facebook would come out on top. Explaining to someone how browser content can be modified on the fly using GreaseMonkey might be a little tricky. No harm, no foul. Good luck Facebook, you money-hoarding bastards.
Had GS installed, but hadn't seen this script.
Thanks EffBee for letting me know about the script that keeps all your spam harvesting shit-ware out of sight.
even the mention of this story will upset their pr in dev community A LOT. we web developers, contrary to some who are developing for more closed platforms like ipod, do NOT like being herded, goaded, or ordered about. this will have consequences.
Read radical news here
Can I not telnet to facebook.com on port 80 and make a request by hand? Sorry, but their copyright ends after they distribute a URI over HTTP. What I do with the response is my prerogative. My browser does anything it wants to with your data... even if I'm not using a browser to connect to tcp/80 at the time.
I don't know very many people without facebook
Try hanging out with adults then. I've never had, nor will I ever have a Facebook or Myspace account. I'm not into teen events and gossip so I just don't see the point.
Besides, I have an actual web site if anyone wants to contact me.
To be honest, greasemonkey is the equivalent of a spam filter. Without it, you're drowned by stupid apps updates you don't give a damn about. And facebook become unusable and utter crap.
So let them disable whatever and shoot themselves in the foot. I won't drop a tear when that happens.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
My supervisor at work just asked me the other day if I play Farmville.
And you'll find yourself with a shitload of newly free hours in the day in which you can do all sorts of stuff. Write a book. Write some free software. Learn a new language. You'll amaze yourself with just how much you can achieve in just one hour extra a day.
New mod option wanted: -1 DrunkenRambling
So, what's the name of that site, mate? Anonymouscowardnumbersixpointeightthreebillion-giveortake.com? Sorry, Captian Luddite, but you're confusing the medium with the content. I'm 50 years old and have prodigiously developed abilities with Google Fu. After over a year of badgering to join Facebook—which I countered with arguments similar to yours, such as:
—I finally relented. Since doing so about a year ago, I've reconnected with a ton of old friends I couldn't find any other way.
As a shining example, two of us had an idea to start an ACTUAL website to gather material on musicians & bands we knew from our area, and from days and decades gone by. Despite sending tons of emails, and making tons of phone calls pleading for friends to get on board with the idea, nobody wanted to go to the trouble of contributing to it. I was even offering to send out pre-paid mailers for them to send me stuff to scan and audio/video material to digitize. It was just too much trouble for them
So, my friend and I started a Facebook group hoping to create a historic record of bands, clubs, & musicians from the Central Pennsylvania area, and in less than 2 months 360+ old friends and acquaintances have found each other again, to share hundreds of photos and stories, and to get back together to jam, or to go see each others' current bands.
I could also regale you with tales of smaller BBQs, ballgames, golf outings and beer bashes organized and thrown, of old loves rekindled, of new jobs found, of dogs and cats saved from being euthanized, of rare car parts bought & sold, of bands booking money-making tours in markets they would have otherwise never reached, of small group renunion cruises and vacations taken, and many more.
But apparently, you've explored it all enough to know that Facebook, MySpace and other SocNet sites are just for the pathetic, or the tech—challenged, or the kids...so good luck, and have fun with your decision to dismiss them out—of—hand. In the meantime, there are a whole shtload of us who are having tones of fun, both online and in meatspace, precisely because of them.
My Human Gets Me Blues.
...every other country than the US, they will accomplish what, exactly?
Any attempts to enforce EULAs would be laughed out of court in the rest of the world. Consumer rights authorities in the EU are currently investigating whether it even is legal to present EULAs to consumers since there's currently a court case pending in Finland where someone was blocked from using a free service because they had filled out bogus info about themselves and the EULA "obliged" users to disclose real info.
Ps. It would be nice if someone (a Finn?) has more info about that case, I can't come up with search terms that don't result in too many irrelevant hits and I just cannot remember the foreign names well enough.
.. to never ever using Facebook. Hurray! :-)
Insert
Does this script give you anything that lite.facebook.com doesn't already?
Wrong organization though, this sounds more like a case for the EFF. http://www.eff.org/
What if he changes it to Fucking Bitches Pussies, is THAT still a violation of "Facebook" trademark?
Maybe its time we start pushing distributed social networking.
Think "HelloWorld" from years ago, but more modern. HelloWorld was great, just ahead of its time.
http://www.cooperatingsystems.com/index.htm
As usual, the "popular" kids ruin it for the rest. They don't care about the negative consequences of their actions, because someone else is going to deal with those. Who cares that the internet is turning into a corporate-controlled crowd-sourcing fest when you can have more than 360 friends and acquaintances?
Freedom takes a little effort. You're pissing away one of the rare chances of truly non-hierarchical communication for just about nothing in return but getting a list of others who are equally complacent. You're building someone else's walled garden.
Ever stop to think maybe he likes it that way?
No one is questioning whether or not he should or shouldn't be on Facebook. It's not for some people. Not everything is (for example, while I use Facebook, I just dont' see as much point to Twitter and have never sent a tweet in my life - doesn't mean I degrade those who do use it though).
The primary concern was over his accusation that if you're on Facebook you should start hanging out with adults - the implication being that adults don't use Facebook. That's absolutely off-base and inaccurate. I'm 28, have good job, and own my own home. I have a Facebook account. All of my friends have Facebook accounts. Virtually every single person I went to school with has a Facebook account. Many of their parents have a Facebook account. Nearly everyone at work has a Facebook account. The 55 year old millionaire that in charge where I work? Facebook account.
Whether or not you identify with it or not, labeling it as something only children or teens mess with is inaccurate. There's either a problem with your data or your definitions. In reality, rather than saying "Start hanging out with adults", he would been more accurate in saying "I don't like Facebook and here's why . . .", in which case I think the world owes him a resounding "WE DON'T CARE!!!!".
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain