From Pine View Farm

Facebook Frolics 0

Unless you tell it not to, Facebook will take your picture and arbitrarily pop it into ads shown to your “friends,” implying that you “like” whatever it is.

Some Californians have had enough:

Facebook Inc., the world’s most used social-networking service, can be sued by people who claim showing advertisements that their friends apparently like violates a California law regarding commercial endorsements.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose rejected Facebook’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit on Dec. 16, ruling the plaintiffs may pursue claims that the company’s sponsored ads violate state law and are fraudulent. Koh granted Facebook’s request to dismiss a claim that it unjustly enriched itself with the sponsored ads.

The California law says that you can’t be shown as endorsing a product without your permission. This hearing was not about the merits of the suit, but about standing.

I expect that Facebook will argue that accepting its terms and conditions equals giving it permission to do whatever the hell it wants to do.

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