I found this article from cnet connected to our recent discussion about the rights of Facebook and other social networking sites. Recently, Facebook announced changes (or, rather, clarifications) to its policy regarding material posted on the site. The new policy has fewer limits on what the site can do with material posted by users, even after the users delete that material. The Consumerist, a blog site dealing with consumer advocacy issues, claims that the new rules seem to be saying, "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever." In addition, some artists, authors, and musicians are closing their Facebook accounts out of fears that work from which they hope to profit will be shared outside the site.

This all seems somewhat murky to me. Facebook officials say they are not claiming ownership of posted materials, and privacy settings still apply. With Facebook being a free application open to the public, it seems that people should be careful with what they post regardless of slight policy changes. It will be interesting to see where Mark Zuckerberg and the gang go with new rules in effect.