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Facebook Settles 'Sponsored Stories' Suit For $10M To Charity

Posted by timothy on from the straight-to-the-hemlock-society-and-nambla dept.

Reuters reports that Facebook has taken the face-saving move (and a cheap one, considering the company's market cap) of settling for $10 million — plus lawyers' fees — the lawsuit brought against it for appropriating users' names and pictures in deceptive ads. Says the linked story: "The lawsuit, brought by five Facebook members, alleged the social networking site violated California law by publicizing users' 'likes' of certain advertisers on its 'Sponsored Stories' feature without paying them or giving them a way to opt out, the documents said. A 'Sponsored Story' is an advertisement that appears on a member's Facebook page and generally consists of another friend's name, profile picture and an assertion that the person 'likes' the advertiser."

11 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Does this work for people, or just companies? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear David,

    Sorry I told all my friends you were gay without asking you if it was okay first. If you were upset by that, I apologize. In order to show my sincerity and to help make amends, I will donate $20 to a charity. In addition, I promise that I will never again betray someone's trust by outing someone's sexuality at one of Mary's barbecues. I will do my best to find another way instead.

    Sincerely,

    Anthony

    1. Re:Does this work for people, or just companies? by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Why has this been modded as funny rather than insightful?

      This is the perfect way how this "sponsored stories" misfeature may backfire. Closeted gay person likes an ad about an anal dildo or a new gay bathhouse in town. Next day, the ad shows up on all his straight friends' and work colleagues' profiles with his name attached...

  2. Re:Ironic by arisvega · · Score: 2

    Maybe someone should file a class action suit against slashdot.

    Sorry, it only works with real money.

    --
    The three laws of thermodynamics:(1) You can't win. (2) You can't break even. (3) You can't even quit.
  3. That explains it by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just last month one of my high schoolmates "liked" a company suddenly out of the blue after a period of inactivity. The problem was my schoolmate died a month earlier. I haven't talked to his parents but I'm sure they were pissed.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    1. Re:That explains it by davester666 · · Score: 2

      Yes. Plenty of room to turn over. With a little more practice, he will be able to spin...

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  4. Class-y Action by Pandare · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As someone who is procrastinating from studying for the bar, I have to say that the key phrase here is "lawyer's fees." Once those words have been invoked, there's no real incentive for the lawyers to look out for the class member's interests anymore. These massive class actions are usually miserable for the class members, but great for the attorneys who take the case.

    As far as what should have been done, giving every facebook user their share would be difficult, but I don't see why they couldn't have come to an agreement to run something like youtube's partnership program and give people who bring in a lot of business for their advertisers a kickback. Everybody else could be given a farmville cow or something (I have no idea what the new big shitty gam^H^H^H data-mining project is).

    Anybody know which charity the money is going to? EFF sounds like a fine choice.

    1. Re:Class-y Action by jblb · · Score: 2

      Anybody know which charity the money is going to? EFF sounds like a fine choice.

      And anyone know which charity the lawyers are donating their fee to?

    2. Re:Class-y Action by pepty · · Score: 4, Interesting
      I can't say as the Republican ideas for reforming class action lawsuits are very useful; here's my list:

      1. Strict limit on fees: the class gets a minimum of 65% of the reward. All costs(distribution, printing, whatever) not earmarked by the judge come out of the lawyers 35%.

      2. Strict parity in payments, in both kind and time.

      Kind: The only way the lawyers get paid in cash is if the class is paid in cash. If the class gets $650,000 in coupons, the lawyers are paid $350,000 in identical coupons. They're welcome to sell the coupons on ebay.

      Time: As in the time value of money. At no point during the payout are the lawyers paid their fees in advance of the class being paid their settlement. If a trust is established to pay out claims over a period of years (typical for medical lawsuits), the lawyers get paid incrementally as the claims are paid. If the lawyers wish to be paid up front they can securitize their revenue stream from the trust and sell it. They may get 60 cents on the dollar for it.

  5. Would love to know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What charities are receiving the said money and then who owns them.

    1. Re:Would love to know... by cyclebiff · · Score: 3, Funny

      Zuckerberg Center For Children Who Can't Finish College Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too

    2. Re:Would love to know... by RivenAleem · · Score: 2

      Saw the design plans for that place, looked a bit small tbh. Need to make it at least 3 times bigger.