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Believe it or not, few in the business of suing people for patent infringement or defending against patent suits believe 2012 brought more patent litigation than any other year.

That's right. The tech industry is worked into a lather about something that's always been a problem and probably always will be a problem. Despite Facebook's giant initial public offering, the heated and often entertaining competition among smartphone makers, and Microsoft's new operating system, one story dominated them all this year: the U.S. patent system.

So why are people so upset?

Let's start with this: … Read more

The backlash over announced changes to Instagram's terms of service has led National Geographic to suspend its posting activity on the photo-sharing app.

The Facebook-owned app ignited a storm of protest with the announcement earlier this week that it was claiming perpetual rights to sell users' photographs without payment or notification. Under the new policy, Facebook claimed the perpetual right to license all public Instagram photos to companies or any other organization, including for advertising purposes, effectively transforming the Web site into the world's largest stock photo agency.

National Geographic, a magazine long respected for presenting high-quality photographs … Read more

Instagram apologized to its users today, saying it will "remove" language from its legal terms that would have let it sell users' photos or use them in advertisements.

In a blog post this afternoon, Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said it's "our mistake that this language is confusing" and that the company is "working on updated language."

"Since making these changes, we've heard loud and clear that many users are confused and upset about what the changes mean," he wrote.

Instagram's terms of use agreement announced yesterday sparked a user revolt … Read more

As the old Internet saying goes, "If you use something for free, you are the product for sale."

Facebook and its shiny new acquisition Instagram seemed to have taken that maxim to its logical extreme when Instagram announced new terms and conditions yesterday granting it the ability to license users' photos for display by advertisers without user consent and without compensation.

Whatever Instagram's actual plans for our photos -- artfully filtered iStock photos? sponsored posts of latte art? -- or the full legal implications (some argue that Instagram already owned your photos), the ramifications of the terms … Read more

From the outset, let's note a couple of points that ought to be abundantly clear to anyone watching the unfolding controversy about the upcoming changes to Instagram's terms of use.

A) Instagram -- and thus by definition, Facebook, the site's corporate parent -- is entirely within its rights to change the terms of use governing how photos uploaded by people using the service get used.

B) Facebook's management is comprised of incredibly smart folks.

Given that A and B are true, the powers that be who are running the company must either be amazingly tone deaf … Read more

Instagram's competitors are pouncing on the company's claim that it will be able to sell users' photos for advertising purposes without payment or notification.

They're hoping that irritation over Instagram's controversial decision -- which came three months after Facebook completed the acquisition -- will lure users away from the popular photo-sharing app, which passed the 100 million user mark in September.

"We will certainly do our best to make sure that Instagram users are aware of 23snaps as an alternative service," Meaghan Fitzgerald, head of marketing for 23snaps, a London-based company that makes an … Read more

News of Instagram's revised terms of services agreement, which essentially allows the company to use your photos for advertising, have caused user backlash, but none so comical as the stir caused by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's sister.

Arielle Zuckerberg, who works for Google social-media marketing division Wildfire, hit her "Like" button today on an Instagram photo posted to Facebook by Instagram user and professional photographer Clayton Cubitt. The photo was a screenshot of a portion of the new terms of service, with a caption that read, "Instagram's suicide note."

The new terms, which … Read more

On January 16, the photos you upload to Instagram can be used for third-party advertising. This change in Instagram's policy means that the photos you take of your kids, pets, family, or anything else, can be sold without even notifying you. If you decide to wait until after January 16 to close your Instagram account, your photos could still be used or sold.

Not really feeling the change? You're not alone. Many users are wondering what they can do with their Instagram account -- whether they can download all of their photos and preserve their privacy, or if … Read more

Update, December 18 at 2:50 p.m. PT: Instagram has backed down, as we report in this CNET article posted a few minutes ago. Instagram says it will "remove" the language that caused a user revolt over the last day.

Instagram said today that it has the perpetual right to sell users' photographs without payment or notification, a dramatic policy shift that quickly sparked a public outcry.

The new intellectual property policy, which takes effect on January 16, comes three months after Facebook completed its acquisition of the popular photo-sharing site. Unless Instagram users delete their accounts … Read more