I just received this email.
I answer Mike Arrington and several others in a video that now is up at http://www.mogulus.com/robertscoble.
UPDATE: In the video I cover a whole bunch of topics and take questions from the live audience that was there when filmed. Also, I told the audience that I am not using any Facebook data outside of Facebook and will delete the test account we used on Plaxo to do the tests.
Hi Robert,
Facebook’s Terms of Use broadly prohibits the running of automated scripts on the site because they can be used to commit malicious attacks, send spam, and generally try to undermine the integrity of the site. When our systems detect these types of scripts, they immediately disable the account of the user responsible as a preventative measure. This is what happened in your case – your automated script was exhibiting the same behavior as other malicious scripts that we have blocked before so your account was disabled.
Our standard process for handling cases when an account is disabled for security violations is to allow a user to appeal and remedy the situation. This is the process we have followed here. Since you contacted us and have agreed not to run the script again, we have reactivated your account. You should now be able to log in with your normal email and password. In the future, please refrain from running these types of scripts again.
Thanks,
Jerry
User Operations
Facebook
Thought I would through my two cents into the bucket on my blog http://www.blackandmaple.com/. I feel that Plaxo should have cleared it first before going for such a public test as they knew you would probably get shut off and it would then become public. But I also think Facebook needs to become much more open and this has really brought light to the issue.
Thanks for the video cast yesterday – I very much enjoyed listening to your responses and general tech talk!
I often travel around the wordpress-sphere to read blogs, good and terrific, but have a hard time understanding why wordpress puts your complaint on top of the front page. There are much better blogs on much more important topics which deserve to be above the fold; yours certainly does not.
just my opinion.
I often travel around the wordpress-sphere to read blogs, good and terrific, but have a hard time understanding why wordpress puts your complaint on top of the front page. There are much better blogs on much more important topics which deserve to be above the fold; yours certainly does not.
just my opinion.
[...] debate. After several hours and numerous posts on the subject from various bloggers, Facebook explained that this was a standard security process against all kinds of scripts. When our systems detect [...]
is this really newsworthy? enough is enough you dork! nobody gives a damm about this sort of news..
is this really newsworthy? enough is enough you dork! nobody gives a damm about this sort of news..
[...] I think I laid out my point there… And honestly after I read Facebook’s response to Scoble I felt like I hit the nail on the head, as they laid out the reasoning why they banned [...]
[...] the e-mail from Facebook he posted on his blog. Hi [...]
[...] Scoble didn’t do anything [...]
The funny thing is you can’t get your own data, yet facebook can abuse your data all it wants. Irony Anyone?
The funny thing is you can’t get your own data, yet facebook can abuse your data all it wants. Irony Anyone?
Sorry, but Robert doesn’t get my vote on this one. If I own a house and rent it to him and he signs a lease (read ‘terms of service’)which prevents him from slaughtering cattle in the living room, and he does so anyway, I’ll probably evict him.
If my lease states that he cannot have overnight guests, I’m a overbearing landlord, and he should look elsewhere. That clause will probably hurt my house’s rentability, as it should. Prospective tenants may even organize a boycott. They may challenge it legally and win.
So – if Facebook is the 900 lb. gorilla -cancel your account and boycott it. Bad terms of service or bad terms in the lease do not remove your obligation to abide by them. Your obligation is to not agree to them in the first place and not do business with them. You have no entitlement to break the rules. This is no the “lesser of two evils” defense.
Being a rebel doesn’t make you right – just hard to live with.
Sorry, but Robert doesn’t get my vote on this one. If I own a house and rent it to him and he signs a lease (read ‘terms of service’)which prevents him from slaughtering cattle in the living room, and he does so anyway, I’ll probably evict him.
If my lease states that he cannot have overnight guests, I’m a overbearing landlord, and he should look elsewhere. That clause will probably hurt my house’s rentability, as it should. Prospective tenants may even organize a boycott. They may challenge it legally and win.
So – if Facebook is the 900 lb. gorilla -cancel your account and boycott it. Bad terms of service or bad terms in the lease do not remove your obligation to abide by them. Your obligation is to not agree to them in the first place and not do business with them. You have no entitlement to break the rules. This is no the “lesser of two evils” defense.
Being a rebel doesn’t make you right – just hard to live with.
“Life goes on, and so do we…”
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/televisiontvthemelyrics-80s90s/emptynest.htm
“Life goes on, and so do we…”
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/televisiontvthemelyrics-80s90s/emptynest.htm
[...] I decided to consider this whole B.S. Scoble/Plaxo/Facebook debacle. I’ve already removed Robert from my twitter stream cuz I find his twitter style [...]
Robert, I’ve read your blog for quite a while, and most of the time it is good information. But in this case, using your clout, so to speak, to bypass a site’s TOS, and then blame the site for your account being disabled is bad form. You broke the rules, pay the price, or at least do something to make sure that this didn’t just happen because of YOUR subscriber base. Every FB user should have the same rights, regardless of their exposure. You have an opportunity to lobby for data portability, but at the same time you have to ability to create awareness of a larger problem, special treatment for breaking the rules, just because you can influence their PR. Aren’t the other users allowed the same fairness? Let’s be honest, you likely got reinstated because of the stink you raised, not because of the appeal process you went through. There are bigger issues to deal with, your FB account shouldn’t be this important.
Robert, I’ve read your blog for quite a while, and most of the time it is good information. But in this case, using your clout, so to speak, to bypass a site’s TOS, and then blame the site for your account being disabled is bad form. You broke the rules, pay the price, or at least do something to make sure that this didn’t just happen because of YOUR subscriber base. Every FB user should have the same rights, regardless of their exposure. You have an opportunity to lobby for data portability, but at the same time you have to ability to create awareness of a larger problem, special treatment for breaking the rules, just because you can influence their PR. Aren’t the other users allowed the same fairness? Let’s be honest, you likely got reinstated because of the stink you raised, not because of the appeal process you went through. There are bigger issues to deal with, your FB account shouldn’t be this important.
[...] Scoble’s been readmitted to Facebook. Filed under:social software — Jill @ 19:06 [ [...]
Buzz.
Buzz.
Congratulations on getting that account back.
Congratulations on getting that account back.
it’s hard to believe anyone cares what Robby says now that he’s left microsoft. where’s the appeal in some dork talking about his facebook experience like he has self-entitlement to not get kick offed the site for his malicious-looking scripts?
Robby, please go work for cisco or apple or ibm so we’ll think you’re somewhat important again.
it’s hard to believe anyone cares what Robby says now that he’s left microsoft. where’s the appeal in some dork talking about his facebook experience like he has self-entitlement to not get kick offed the site for his malicious-looking scripts?
Robby, please go work for cisco or apple or ibm so we’ll think you’re somewhat important again.
Scoble: “William, if you watched the video you’ll notice that I didn’t use the data that I got out of Facebook. Not to mention that I could have written down your email address and then hand typed it back into Outlook. Would that make you feel better?”
Yes, Robert, that is much better. Why? Because a human being did it. And that’s what Facebook data is about: human to human contact. That is the trust that the *average* user gives to Facebook. You are not average, as are many who commenters here.
Facebook is about people having a place on the Web to connect with individuals. And most are *not* interested in someone scraping their data. I applaud Facebook for clarifying their TOS with you. And I am glad to see that you are abiding by their TOS.
PEAS to your Friday!: http://www.frozenpeafund.com
Scoble: “William, if you watched the video you’ll notice that I didn’t use the data that I got out of Facebook. Not to mention that I could have written down your email address and then hand typed it back into Outlook. Would that make you feel better?”
Yes, Robert, that is much better. Why? Because a human being did it. And that’s what Facebook data is about: human to human contact. That is the trust that the *average* user gives to Facebook. You are not average, as are many who commenters here.
Facebook is about people having a place on the Web to connect with individuals. And most are *not* interested in someone scraping their data. I applaud Facebook for clarifying their TOS with you. And I am glad to see that you are abiding by their TOS.
PEAS to your Friday!: http://www.frozenpeafund.com
You have eloquently demonstrated that Facebook is the Roach Motel of Social Media
An interesting related point is that Google also prevents bots from scraping the data that they themselves have scraped from others. How long before the content providers wise up and charge scrapers like Google for the privilege of Hoovering their content?
I predict that the 11th commandment for Web 2.0 is “Always be the scraper, never the scrapee.”
You have eloquently demonstrated that Facebook is the Roach Motel of Social Media
An interesting related point is that Google also prevents bots from scraping the data that they themselves have scraped from others. How long before the content providers wise up and charge scrapers like Google for the privilege of Hoovering their content?
I predict that the 11th commandment for Web 2.0 is “Always be the scraper, never the scrapee.”
All I have to say about this is that you just don’t get it, at all.
Here is my response. Tell me where I am wrong?
http://tinyurl.com/2vmjfa
All I have to say about this is that you just don’t get it, at all.
Here is my response. Tell me where I am wrong?
http://tinyurl.com/2vmjfa
Hi Scoble. I think that this topic is totally overhyped.
Hi Scoble. I think that this topic is totally overhyped.
[...] has since had his account reinstated, but not before comparing himself to Gandhi. It’s not a comparison I would have made, and [...]
[...] has since had his account reinstated, but not before comparing himself to Gandhi. It’s not a comparison I would have made, and [...]
Hi, I think it’s high time we abandon centralized repositories of personal information in favour of a distributed approach to social networking.
http://www.cs.queensu.ca/~thurston/fif/
Hi, I think it’s high time we abandon centralized repositories of personal information in favour of a distributed approach to social networking.
http://www.cs.queensu.ca/~thurston/fif/
What’s the takeaway here? Easy. Next time, write a script that runs s – l – o – w – l – y.
What’s the takeaway here? Easy. Next time, write a script that runs s – l – o – w – l – y.
On Social Networking
People are beginning to question the necessity of Facebook. It’s clear that like any social network, it is worthless without the massive amounts of user data we provide. If something better comes along, a mass exodus is likely. Or is it?
…
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[...] Over the last few days there’s been a lot of discussion on the ‘net on the topic of data portability among social networking sites. It all started when blogger Robert Scoble got his Facebook account suspended for violating Facebook’s Terms of Service (ToS). He was running a script (which was the violation) from Plaxo that goes to all your friends’ profile pages and collects (scrapes) their contact information from them (i.e. the pages). [He’s since been let back in.] [...]
you’re quite possibly the biggest tool on the internet. don’t break the terms of use and you won’t get your facebook taken away.
DUH
you’re quite possibly the biggest tool on the internet. don’t break the terms of use and you won’t get your facebook taken away.
DUH
[...] nails it in his Dependence vs Independence post – discussing the ramifications of the Scoble getting kicked out of Facebook controversy. Some may say that Scoble was played by Plaxo, and others may take this controversy to [...]
[...] can read more of the facebook/plaxo/portability saga and the piles of comments here on Roberts [...]