the facebook terms of use change.... and coming back to the old TOS!

Rage has got many of the facebook users, and some have already left the giant website, because of the recent change of the Terms of Use; it is not necessarily a change, mainly a clarification of the way things actually work for a while now.... Mark Zuckerberg "clarifies" in the post on his blog entitled "On Facebook, People Own and Control Their Information" that basically says:

• once you place a picture/post/message on facebook, or any kind of information that is shared, two copies are made: one in your account and the other in the other person's account. Even if you delete your account, your copy of the information is deleted, but the other person's copy still remains(the content/picture/text still stays on). It actually sounds pretty logical; this system is also used by the emailing websites....
• there is a clash between:
  - I want to share my information with the whole world, yet to fully control it, to turn it off/delete it at any time;
  - At the same time, this shared info should be available to other services, to be used by them...
  These two are not possible YET - why not trying to work on making it possible? It may be a revolutionizing thing to do.... and it will help/benefit so many!

Basically, just like before and just like all the other services that are online: once you place some content online and it is seen/indexed, no matter how much you want to take it off, you can't do it thoroughly! I had a blog, personal blog stefan misaras, and I deleted it a long time ago - it still comes up in the search results! The same with facebook - the only problem is that on facebook people actually put their whole life - pictures, friends, talks, comments, opinions, games - which can provide enough information to anyone about you... and that is scary! The truth about facebook? - a short clip from 2006.
This is actually a very realistic issue of the web2.0 and the development of the "sharing the information, not hiding it" - everyone can have access to your personal details without working for CIA!
Other reactions online about this update of the Facebook TOS:

• Facebook's Terms Of Use Draw Protest - InformationWeek - just stating the facts... no solution...
• Facebook's Terms of Use Go From Bad to Worse - the photo attorney discloses that the facebook tos was not like that before - now everyone using facebook grants full rights to facebook site over all his information!
• Facebook policy changes draw thousands of protests, Chicago Tribune, tells us that on the 4th of february the facebook tos changed, and the consumerist pointed this out - this triggered all to actually take a closer look at the facebook terms of service...
• the standard transmits Mark's message concerning the update, and then... the protests that are still taking place.... people basically implore the guys at Facebook to revise their TOS.... and there is a group called: "People Against the new Terms of Service", to which the guys at Facebook started: "Questions for Facebook".
• Facebook users upset by change in terms of use - the baltimore sun, tells us the story and the implications: though you may wanna leave facebook now, the site still owns your data/pictures/personal info.
• New 'Facebook' Terms of Use Spark Protests - no more total control over your personal data on facebook;
• Facebook is the owner of your personal information now! - and that is so true...
• Facebook updates Terms of Use; Internet freaks out - in IT world, which notices that these TOS were more or less the same, but there are other stipulations that should scare us, like:
  - to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising - this means the Facebook users can be used in their adds, etc...(or worse);
  - the classical "We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change or delete portions of these Terms at any time without further notice. Your continued use of the Facebook Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms" - gives the Facebook users no right to comment/say anything about/in the modification of the facebook TOS at any time...
• Facebook's Terms Of Use Draws Protest - osnn; and Facebook, terms of use & privacy - the buzz;
  
• Facebook’s terms-of-service change has users abuzz - Goldman said the language in Facebook’s terms of use “runs directly contrary” to the tacit agreement the site has struck with its members. Users generally trust that their profile photos won’t turn up on a roadside billboard without their permission, or that their blog posts won’t be published in a bound volume and sold for profit.
• Facebook Terms Update Creates Heated Debate - at webmasterworld - I like the conclusion: "In short: Don't post anything, anywhere, unless you plan on losing ownership of it. I've removed my images and anything else which I want to maintain ownership of."
  

Actually, according to this and this, Mark said in one of his last posts something like: the facebook TOS /bill of rights are coming back/being reverted to the previous version - which are similar... - where he specified:

Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand. Since this will be the governing document that we'll all live by, Facebook users will have a lot of input in crafting these terms

Good stuff.... yet I still think that we have to be a little more careful as to what we post online, what we share with our friends, even the pictures.... though the intentions of both the ones at google, youtube, msn, yahoo, facebook and myspace are "clean" - "we want to just provide a medium for you to do what you really want, and all information is safe with us" - whether it is about pages online/searches and search trends/history, videos about/with you, blogs and information, or pictures/wall posts/comments - it is not that "clean"....