On February 6, Facebook announced its newest changes to their terms of service. The new version removed a clause which terminates Facebook’s license when the user terminates their account. As a result, the new TOS granted far broader license rights that many Facebook users opposed. The TOS granted Facebook:
“an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.”
Many sources speculated that the expanded license was a result of a new operating strategy, which Facebook hoped to pursue regarding commercial revenue. However, after many users protested and blogs and newspaper outlets raised concerns with the change, Facebook reviewed its position and reverted back to the former version of the TOS. NY Times
