Facebook



Facebook, a partly Microsoft-owned company, commoditises site users and exploits them voluntarily so as to harvest peer-informing/tracking labour, then sell their linked data. Facebook engages in censorship, patent aggression, and more; privacy is antithetical to its business model. Facebook's abuses that are relevant to Techrights were covered in:

2009

 * Patents Roundup: Microsoft Stung, Microsoft’s Troll Speaks to Facebook, Alternatives Considered, and USPTO Head Calls Patents “Monopolies”
 * Microsoft Windows Zombies Also Knocked Facebook and Gawker Offline, More “Critical” Microsoft Flaws Discovered

2010

 * Facebook Joins Microsoft’s War on ODF
 * Facebook and Intellectual Ventures Revisited
 * FBI/Facebook Wants to Know Your ‘Friends’
 * Facebook and Microsoft Revisited; New Examples of Microsoft Entryism
 * Patents Roundup: USPTO Changes, New Zealand’s Law Ambiguity, Facebook and Apple Sued
 * Facebook Gives Data to Microsoft, Encourages Microsoft Lock-in, Expands to Seattle (Speculations/Rumours of Buyout)
 * Microsoft Has Attempted to Acquire Facebook
 * Microsoft Has Your Facebook and Twitter Data, Tightens Relationship With Those Companies
 * Facebook and Microsoft Integrated Further
 * Intellectual Ventures Revisited as Facebook is Hoarding Patents; Apple Patents Other People’s Ideas/Implementations
 * Microsoft and Facebook Share Data, Advertisements, and Bad Practices
 * Amid “Disappointing” Sales of Microsoft Office, Facebook Jumps to Microsoft’s Rescue
 * Increasing Microsoft Embedment at Facebook and Yahoo!
 * More Software Patents Stockpiling at Facebook
 * Facebook is Now Officially a Patent Bully
 * Facebook Becomes Like Microsoft’s Hotmail 2.0

2011

 * British Parliament to Reduce Dependence on Microsoft While Facebook Increases It
 * Facebook: Leveraging Free Software, Promoting Proprietary
 * The Partly Microsoft-Owned Facebook is Doing Microsoft’s Dirty Job With Microsoft’s PR Firm
 * Facebook Likes Microsoft
 * When Patents Attack: Facebook is One of the Attackers

2012

 * Facebook Receives Monopoly on Privacy From the USPTO
 * Facebook Has Deep Microsoft Ties, Zuckerberg Almost Worked at Microsoft

2013

 * Gates, Ballmer, and Zuckerberg Lobby Together Against Public Interests, Relying on Corruptible Officials
 * Facebook and Microsoft Get Closer, Now Reaching Their Relationship’s Peak as Facebook Declines

2014

 * Facebook and Microsoft Openwashing Alert

2016

 * Mark Zuckerberg's 'Free' Basics Evokes Memory of Him Famously Saying “Facebook Users Are Dumb Fucks... I’m Going to Fuck Them, Probably in the Ear”
 * A Patent Aggressor, Facebook, is Still Stockpiling Dubious Software Patents

2017

 * Even Patent Bullies Like Microsoft and Facebook Find the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Useful
 * WordPress Demonstrates That Facebook's Patent Strategy is Deterring/Alienating Developers
 * The Patents Policy of Facebook is Causing an Exodus

2018

 * BlackBerry is Now Suing Facebook Using Software Patents, Canadian Press is Talking Like a Patent Troll: “You Better Not Screw With Us”