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?"

I didn't even know about greasemonkey until today

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to install it now.

Thanks for bringing this to script to my attention, Facebook!

Re:Of course not

[mysidia]

Hm... so perhaps it makes sense to attribute software you write to your worst enemy (instead of you), if the software is likely to be controversial?

That way it'll be your worst enemy (whose name is on and in the software) that they try to sue, instead of you

Re:Thank you Facebook

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to delete my Facebook account. I can hear how my friends are doing by calling them once in a while.

Good luck with that!

Let us not discuss this here

[nikanth]

Let us have this discussion in facebook.. why waste slashdot resource for this ;-)

Re:EULA

[jpate]

um, there is a continent populated entirely by children?

Re:Thank you Facebook

[DMiax]

And if you can get people off of slashdot too, we'll get humanity on Mars in a couple of weeks as a bonus.

Re:EULA

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah and I'm not interested in any of that or your gang/clique mentality. If someone really cares, they can take the tiny effort to type my name into Google and click on the first web site that appears (your suggestion that the domain name is modeled after a typical Facebook user name is proof of how much your brain has been warped). It's far easier to do that then to sign up for one of those sites, receive their constant spam and have to wade through page after blinking text, animated skull background page, scouring all of the "name9072", "name23897", "name893" accounts for the right person, all while fighting off the STD infected, sexual predator denizens, avoiding lawsuits for blocking ads and having their personal information sold for life because they can't ever delete their account.

Chances are, if someone is in my past, there is a damned good reason for it. I don't just lose contact with people that I care about like you apparently do.

Sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter are nothing more than gossip and popularity contests. I left all of that behind at school years ago. Nobody cares what you ate for breakfast. Nobody cares that you saw some guy with a broken tail light on your way home. Nobody cares that your toilet got clogged because you took an extra large dump after eating 5lbs of beans.

Re:EULA

[caluml]

Then we talked about other Facebook games, games for the Wii and how his dog ate the sensor bar, talked about MMOs a bit (He'd never played one, didn't really "get" them, eh, whatever) and then HIS boss came in the room and we talked about work stuff because lunch was drawing to a close.

This is interesting! Do you have a Twitter feed I can subscribe to?

Re:Is it even needed?

[Anonymous Coward]

wooooosh! well, I hope he was joking. he could not have truly believed that.... no no it was a joke. for sure.

Streisand Effect

[misfit815]

Never heard of this until now. *Definitely* looking into it.

Thanks for the tip! Installing it now!

[zizzybaloobah]

I'd never had known about this script if Facebook had left well enough alone. I'm installing the script now, and encourage everyone else to do the same. I do know how to block FB apps, but am still annoyed by the occasional status update or event invite that includes stuff I don't wanna see. Yippee Skippee! (Don't you just love the Streisand Effect?)

Re:EULA

[Grimbleton]

No I just ramble wherever I happen to be at the moment.

Re:No...

[dindinx]

Also, if Facebook wins, it will set a precedence. It will mean that potentially, anything that modifies a website from what the website author produces will be illegal.

This means all greasemonkey scripts and AdBlock Plus/other ad blocking technologies as these modify a sites look from what is intended.

Hum, this would make IE illegal too!

Re:EULA

[Just Some Guy]

Try hanging out with adults then.

Last March, 54% of Facebook users were 26 or older (with 30% being 35 or older). I'm friends with my next door neighbor; she and her husband are retirees.

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.

I bet you don't own a TV [theonion.com], either.

Re:EULA

[e2d2]

I used to run with a real gang. We used Face-Mash. the hot social networking system built around drugs, guns, and alcohol. It brought us all together to enjoy our common bond - beating people close to death, robbing, stealing, etc.

So yeah, I can see how it could be compared to Facebook.

Re:What threat?

[Alinabi]

He changed the name to Fluff Buster Purity but also still markets it as F***B*** Purity, which is again a violation of Facebook's trademark, albeit a little more tenous

Tenuous is the understatement of the century. I am not a lawyer, but I find it hard to believe there is anything in trademark law that grants such broad rights (on any combination of two words with initials F and B). If it does, I guess Microsoft owns My Wiener.

Re:EULA

[hduff]

And facebook become unusable and utter crap.

You're assuming this has not already happened.

You would be wrong.