In March Facebook was hit with an antitrust lawsuit by PageRage which helps users customize their Facebook page. PageRage claims that Facebook not only demanded that users remove PageRage skins from their profile pages but also organized an advertiser boycott.
On November 29th, the complaint was dismissed with the judge stressing:
There is no fundamental right to use Facebook; users may only obtain a Facebook account upon agreement that they will comply with Facebook’s terms, which is unquestionably permissible under the antitrust laws. It follows, therefore, that Facebook is within its rights to require that its users disable certain products before using its website.
Facebook has a right to control its own product, and to establish the terms with which its users, application developers, and advertisers must comply in order to utilize this product….Facebook has a right to protect the infrastructure it has developed, and the manner in which its website will be viewed.
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Pingback: CLBR #82: ROBERT ELLIS SMITH ADDRESSES MOBILE APP PRIVACY | Cyber Law & Business Report