Facebook Messaging Blocks Links 143
jhigh writes "With the launch of the new Facebook messaging system designed to encourage account holders to utilize Facebook for all of their messaging needs, one would think that Facebook would recognize that it cannot continue to block content that it disagrees with. However, Wired reports that Facebook messaging, like the rest of the social networking application, continues to block links to torrents and other file sharing sites, even when users are sending messages via their facebook.com email address. Say what you want about the morality of using file sharing services to share copyrighted material, if Facebook wishes to become a player in the email market, they cannot block content."
Facebook and Content Blocking (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't engage in gross copyright infringement, nor do I share links that condone such behavior. That being said, I do offer legitimate torrents via Demonoid (legitetorrents is a crappy tracker). If I were to share a link to my legally shared content and I was blocked, or I couldn't share links to sites like Jamendo or ClearBits, I would very much be up in arms over this. Since I do not use FB messaging, I cannot say if such services are blocked.
The article is right, though. If FB wants to seriously become a player in the online messaging world, this content blocking garbage must stop.
Re:Demographics (Score:2, Interesting)
I am more and more convinced that the type of people who are on Facebook, let alone those who actually will use messages, are not the types to know or be savvy enough for torrents and similar activities
if you want to communicate with your relatives and certain friends, you end up with a Facebook and/or Twitter account, regardless of how "savvy" you are.
They are mining messages for data/profit (Score:1, Interesting)
For facebook to alter the data in emails shows they are actually looking at the email. Not just for links they don't like but for any kind of data that they can use or sell. I would go as far to mention they are mining other social networks and creating a map of people's personal lives. People mindlessly give their personal data away for free and facebook turns around and sells it to any and everyone. Who needs identity theft when you can give away all your personal info on facebook.
Another way to look at this is facebook doesn't know that any of this data is real although it is assumed to be real. Putting false information is easy with this system and so is sending fake messages. The new age of spambook is upon us. Click in order to share your information.
Re:Facebook and Content Blocking (Score:2, Interesting)
No, Facebook isn't, but if they are providing a communications service, and I cannot use that service to link users to my content (legal or not), then it's a useless service.
I only brought in the legality of my torrents (which are fully 100% legal to share and distribute, as I created the content and licensed it thusly) because I felt a need to clarify that I do share links to content that has been licensed for legal sharing that happens to be torrented. If FB is breaking or blocking links to legit torrent sites (again, Jamendo (though they only provide torrents as an after thought now), Clearbits, and Vodo all offer legitimate torrented content that is freely distributable by all to name just a few) as well as illegitimate ones (99% of Demonoid content, The Pirate Bay, etc.) then the FB messaging service is useless to me.
Your other comment is laughable at best because you continue with whatever assumptions about what I was talking about that you present in the above replied-to comment that you made.
Re:eh (Score:3, Interesting)
then, hundreds of millions of geeks started talking about it, posting about it, encouraging people on the net, friends, relatives to use it, putting download links to their pages, this that. that not only increased ff usage, but also helped bring it up to consumer groups' agenda and legislators' agenda, and effected an awareness and even led to eu regulation.
and see, here we are today, with ie waning, firefox increasing, even having opened the way for other browsers like chrome.
considering the developments around chrome, chrome os, and other google moves, this long chain of events may lead to even quite unexpected results in other areas.
so yes, it can happen. depends on how much importance these internet-wise active people give to something.
Simple solution: (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:You must be joking (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:That's nothing (Score:5, Interesting)
Blocking sites on copyright grounds is one thing
Half of what my friends on Facebook post could be classified as 'copyright violations'. Maybe ISP's should block Facebook.
(you do want to play this game, Facebook, don't you?)
Re:That's nothing (Score:4, Interesting)
ok.. now explain why lamebook is blocked with the following message:
The link you are trying to visit has been reported as abusive by Facebook users. To learn more about staying safe on the internet, visit our Security Page. You can also check out the malware and phishing Wikipedia articles.
Re:They are mining messages for data/profit (Score:3, Interesting)
Not just for links they don't like but for any kind of data that they can use or sell
Whether or not thats true, its pure speculation, and a hell of a reach.
Speculation? Possibly. A 'hell of a reach?' Not in the slightest.
I don't have access to the Facebook code base, and without it, the evidence I present here is nothing more than circumstantial. But consider: Some months ago, Facebook suggested I might want to friend a man whose name rang no bells to me, with whom I had no friends in common. He lives in Toronto, I live on the other side of the world.
Only after googling the name did I realise that this man runs a blog that I visit about twice a month. Once. about a year ago, I emailed him to pass on a link that I thought he might be interested in. So... how did Facebook create this association? The only possibilities are:
Just about a week ago, I got another similar suggestion, this time a woman from Denmark. The only thing we had in common is that she is a fan of Oscar Levant, and I had read a Slashdot thread that day that mentioned him. I'd never heard the name before, so I ran a google search for the name and read his wikipedia page.
What's Facebook up to? At best, they're taking a very liberal interpretation of what constitutes an acceptable level of investigation into my online habits. At wiorst, they're downright spying on me.
There are, perhaps, other less negative explanations, and I'll admit the possibility that I might have overlooked some detail. I'm a geek with 20 years experience in the field, but I'm still human and prone to error. BUT... Occam's Razor applied, the simplest answer is that facebook was taking liberties with what it allowed itself to see.
Will Facebook mine people's messages for content and use that intelligence for their own gain? Of course they will! That's what they do! Will they overreach when they do so? Evidence (albeit circumstantial) suggests they will.
Re:They are mining messages for data/profit (Score:2, Interesting)
> So... how did Facebook create this association? The only possibilities are: ...
3. Your Toronto contact permitted Facebook to upload the details of his e-mail address book.
Remind me again why, if you feel that you must be on Facebook, you're not using a unique e-mail address for that site?