Facebook.... a place NOT to have free speech

From:
http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2010/11/23/facebook-lamebook-block-over-trademark-dispute-was-

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 23, 2010 - 9:08am.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Facebook temporarily removed the fan page and disabled users' ability to "like" stories and direct links to Lamebook, a parody site which is in a legal dispute over trademarks with Facebook, TechCrunch reported. After receiving cease-and-desist notices from Facebook, Lamebook asked a federal court to declare that its site does not infringe Facebook's trademark, arguing it should receive First Amendment protections as a parody.

"Well, Facebook didn't like us sticking up for ourselves, so they shut down our Fan Page, are preventing any users from 'liking' us, and won't even let you share URLs with your friends if they point to Lamebook," the company wrote, in response to Facebook's move.

"In light of this, be sure to follow us on Twitter so you get updated with the latest and funniest of the lame!"

Facebook responded to TechCrunch's story with a statement, indicating the fan page removal and Like-blocking were a mistake.

"This was a mistake on our part. In the process of dealing with a routine trademark violation issue regarding some links posted to Facebook, we blocked all mentions of the phrase 'lamebook' on Facebook," wrote Facebook chief technology officer Bret Taylor.

"We are committed to promoting free expression on Facebook. We apologize for our mistake in this case, and we are working to fix the process that led to this happening."