Month: March 2014

Social Rift

Another day, another questionable Facebook acquisition, and as engadget.com put it, another instance of the “Facebook” effect.  This particular acquisition is the $2 billion purchase of virtual reality headset manufacturer “Oculus Rift.”  Oculus Rift is a particularly unique purchase by Facebook because of its crowdfunding roots.  Oculus Rift got its start through the crowdfunding website “Kickstarter.”  Kickstarter allows individuals to contribute money to upstarts and projects often essentially pre-purchasing the product they are supporting.  Oculus Rift was able to successfully get funded and shipped its VR headsets to qualifying supporters.  Oculus was deemed to be a device that will change the gaming industry and supporters, many of them developers, wanted to get in on the ground floor.  Since its funding the Oculus Rift has improved and has been used for numerous projects, demos, and games by developers, artists, and gamers alike.

The future of the Oculus Rift will now however will be determined by Facebook its new owner to the dismay of many of Oculus’ former supporters.  Which poses an interesting legal question that Kickstarter and startups like Oculus have to consider.  What happens when your hundreds of investors on a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter think they are funding something like a unique grassroots revolution in gaming and it turns out to be bought by a social media juggernaut who may have intentions to take the company in a completely different direction?  Kickstarter has maintained that supporters on their website are not entitled to shares of the company they are supporting, viewing supporters as donators more than investors.  Many of the 9,522 initial Kickstarter backers of Oculus are now demanding their money back and expressing their displeasure online through social media such as on twitter and on Oculus’ Facebook page (irony noted).  Oculus’ Kickstarter page is riddled with comments condemning the acquisition and expressing their feelings of betrayal believing Oculus received a windfall on the shoulders of their supporters who made them who they are today.

Facebook may be able to now provide Oculus funding much greater than they have ever seen before, but their future in gaming is at risk by a number of factors.  The “Facebook effect” for instance, caused by the feeling of distrust of the social media giant by many, is already having an adverse effect with not just their Kickstarter supporters, but also by huge players in the gaming industry the platform needs to rely on.  The creator of “Minecraft,” an immensely popular game on a large number of platforms including game consoles, mobile phones, and PC’s tweeted, “We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out.”  Oculus also will soon no longer be the only game in town as far as virtual reality is concerned, with Sony announcing recently their own headset, Project Morpheus, for their PlayStation 4 game console.  Kotaku.com offered a quote by Sam Biddle from the blog Valleywag to offer a strong perspective to sum up the concerns of many in the crowdfunding community, “For me, it’s now simple: post-Oculus, if you back a large Kickstarter project, you’re a sucker.”

Read more at: Engadget & Kotaku

$70,000 Settlement for a Facebook comment

Minnewaska School District has agreed to pay Riley Stratton $70,000 to settle the 2012 case involving the former Minnewaska Area Middle School sixth-grader. Stratton is now 15 years old. According to the lawsuit Stratton was given detention after she posted comments about a teacher’s aide on her Facebook page. The ACLU claimed that the reason for originally viewing her page was due to claims that she was using school computers to talk to a boy about sex. However, Stratton used her own personal computer at home to make the post -not a school computer.
The nature of the comments which lead to detention about a teacher’s aide were supposedly disapproving. A disputed fact in the case was whether there was permission for the school to go through her cellphone and request passwords for her Facebook account. According to Minnewaska Superintendent Greg Schmidt “It was believed the parent had given permission to look at her cellphone,” but there was no signed waiver from the parent, and there was no policy requiring one.
The fact that the posting was made from her home was a deciding factor in settling the case, according to Schmidt. The reason for the lawsuit was because Stratton became too distraught and embarrassed to attend class or go to school. Since this settlement, the school has changed its policy. The school now requires parents to submit a signed permission waiver in order to look through a students cellphone. This case may be an example of schools overreaching their authority in punishing kids for activities outside of school, and especially for things that happen on social media.

California Law Mandates Allowing Minors to Delete Social Media Posts

California has recently become the first state to enact a law requiring social media companies to give young users (under-18) the chance to delete regretful posts. Federal law lacks such a provision due mainly to the opposing argument that this would be too burdensome on social media companies. Many young social media users do not think before posting irresponsible, reputation-damaging words and pictures to the Internet. The “erase bill” was signed Monday by Governor Jerry Brown and comes into effect in January 2015.

The erase bill is lauded by many such as the founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, who stated, “[t]his puts privacy in the hands of kids, teenagers and the parents, not under the control of an anonymous tech company.” Senate leader Darrell Steinberg noted, “This is a groundbreaking protection for our kids who often act impetuously…before they think through the consequences. They deserve the right to remove this material that could haunt them for years to come.” The law also mandates that social media companies inform minors about their right to erase posts.

One blatant flaw in the legislation is that the law does not force the companies to remove the content completely from the servers. The posts thus survive in the vast cyber-sphere. However, allowing minors to retract ignorant statements and posts from the Internet seems to be a good start in the direction of future federal protection.

The article discussing this new legislation notes that pictures and posts discoverable online could ruin a young person’s ability to land a prestigious summer internship or even admittance into college. After all, employers and recruiters certainly Google young applicants, probably even before reading their applications.

The aim of this legislation is to get other states on board, and eventually to persuade Washington to construct binding law. As a graduate student without any social media, I never had to worry about the potential issues arising from regrettable social media posts. However, as we all make mistakes, especially in our teenage years, it seems appropriate to me that lawmakers would want to give minors the ability to right their wrongs in the days following such posts. I often regret words that come out of my mouth, let alone statements and/or photos that are memorialized on the Internet.

Do you think a young person’s future should be jeopardized for posting substance on the Internet that reflects a moment of their stupidity? We all undoubtedly must be held accountable for what we say, but shouldn’t minors get some leeway? Or, should schools and companies seeking to hire these minors be privy to the potential for such misconduct? I for one support this type of legislation. What do you think?

 

“Erase Law” News Article

Facebook After Death

Facebook has recently changed its privacy policy for deceased users’ accounts.   Prior to this change, upon a friend or family member’s request, and upon confirmation that the user had actually passed away, Facebook would restrict the deceased user’s account so only “friends” could view the “memorial” page.  In order to respect the choices a Facebook user makes while still alive, Facebook will now continue to apply, after the user’s death, the privacy settings the user chose while alive.

When I first read about this, I have to admit I thought it was a little creepy.  I’m not sure that I would want my Facebook page to live on after I die, or if I would want random people to be able to look at a deceased family member or friend’s Facebook page.  However, after surfing the Internet for more information about this, I came upon a Huffington Post blog that opened my eyes to the benefit of this new Facebook policy.

The author of the blog, Jordi Lippe, discussed how, after her father passed away tragically, she found herself visiting his Facebook page, posting on his wall, and tagging him in pictures more often than visiting his gravesite. Ms. Lippe didn’t find this to be creepy, as I had sensed it would be; rather, she looked at it as an opportunity to feel more connected to her father, to honor him, and to connect with all of the other people who missed and loved her father.

Various state legislatures are trying to figure out how to deal with digital assets.  For example, Virginia enacted a law enabling parents of deceased minors to obtain control of their child’s various online accounts.  After the parent assumes his or her child’s terms of service agreements, presumably, that parent can delete those accounts.

What are your thoughts? Is Facebook right in honoring a person’s privacy choices after he or she passes away?  Should minors using Facebook receive the same treatment after death, or are parents justified in wanting to take control of their child’s digital assets, including deleting or deactivating those accounts?  Would you want your Facebook page to be memorialized?

Skip to toolbar