Tech 2.0 for Thursday, October 4, 2012
Facebook has topped 1 billion users, but the past few months have not been easy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that the company is going through a bit of a rough patch following its rocky initial public offering. Zuckerberg updated his Facebook status on Thursday to announce that the social networking site has more than 1 billion active users each month. The company has had a difficult time lately. There were trading glitches the day it went public in May and concerns since then about its revenue potential. It's also facing lawsuits from disgruntled shareholders. Zuckerberg said in a "Today" show interview Thursday that "we're in a tough cycle now and that doesn't help morale, but people are focused on what they're building."
Are you willing to pay Facebook to make sure your most important posts are being seen? The social medial outlet is offering a new feature in the U.S. that lets you do that. It allows users to pay to promote posts to their friends -- just like advertisers do. The feature has already been tested in New Zealand, where Facebook often test-drives some of its new wrinkles. Facebook says promoting a post -- like announcing a garage sale, charity drive or big news like an engagement -- will bump it higher in your friends' news feeds. Facebook didn't say how much it will cost to promote the posts, only that it's considering a range of prices as part of the test.
The Federal Trade Commission says it wants to fine Warner Music Group over its fan Web sites for artists like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Rihanna. FTC Commissioner Edith Ramirez says the music group violated a child privacy law in the way it ran fan sites for the artists. The FTC says site operator Artist Arena collected personal details like names, email addresses, street addresses and cell phone numbers of more than 100,000 children aged 12 or younger on sites such as BieberFever.com. Such actions violate the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
No Doubt and ActiVision have settled their lawsuit over the use of the band's likenesses in the video game "Band Hero." According to court records in Los Angeles, the suit was settled on Monday -- just a few weeks before trial was to begin on the band's claims of fraud. No Doubt also alleged ActiVision guilty of violation of publicity rights and breach of contract. Terms of the settlement weren't disclosed -- and neither the band's attorney or a lawyer for ActiVision commented on the case. No Doubt sued ActiVision over a feature in "Band Hero" that lets players perform the songs of other artists using the likenesses of No Doubt front woman Gwen Stefani and other band members.
Wow! RT @mikestenger: Woah. Facebook has hit 1 Billion active users each month:
http://t.co/MHixvvbj 
Facebook reached over a billion users, now there are a billion people who will eventually realize Twitter is better.
Facebook reaches 1 billion users - @todayshow
http://t.co/Sa2wWbiM 
Would you pay to promote your Facebook posts?:
http://t.co/MTAklBbB 
Facebook Now Lets US Users Pay $7 To Promote Posts To The News Feeds Of More Friends
http://t.co/pJLJeRHd 
Facebook selling its user ethos to the devil: A new pilot program lets users pay $7 to ensure friends see their posts. Unsubscribe. $FB
FTC Proposes To Fine Warner Music $1 Million For Privacy Violations
http://t.co/DnjKZbi3 
Warner Music Fan Site Division Settles for $1M with FTC over Child Privacy
http://t.co/5OeGf5EJ 
#Celebrity #Music FTC to fine Warner unit $1M over kids privacy - JB;dazUtTnr JB;dThVSysH #TFW Doo
No Doubt vs. Activision suit settled: Grammy-winning band and Call of Duty publisher agree on settlement over 20...
http://t.co/2IROYTfA 
No Doubt and Activision don't speak in court, agree settlement instead
http://t.co/zBuvtsBe
