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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

Facebook is on the hot seat in Germany for requiring users to use their real names instead of pseudonyms.

The data protection agency Unabhaengiges Landeszentrum fuer Datenschutz (ULD) in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein has ordered Facebook to put a halt to its real name policy, citing a German law that allows people to use pseudonyms online. The agency pointed to that law as one that guarantees the "fundamental right to freedom of expression on the Internet."

The ULD's order so far only applies in Schleswig-Holstein, although other German states may follow its lead.

Facebook's … Read more

In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, when an armed man stormed a Connecticut elementary school and killed 26 people, including 20 children, gun control has been under high scrutiny from both lawmakers and citizens.

The National Rifle Association -- the longtime champion of gun ownership rights -- has stayed conspicuously out of the debate, however. So much so, that it has even ceased all of its social media activity -- its Facebook page was recently shuttered and the group has not posted a single new tweet on its Twitter account.

The last tweet from the NRA was posted at … 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

I want to believe that this is the time of year for human harmony.

But who am I to talk? My future wife won't even acknowledge me, believing I am Beelzebub's kin. Servers at fine restaurants won't even refill my water glasses.

Oh, and then there was a Facebook "Christmas thought" from Israel's embassy in Ireland that Jesus would likely be lynched if he was in Bethlehem this year.

As The New York Times describes it, someone at Israel's embassy wrote the following:

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also known as Iran's Supreme Leader, is turning into quite the social butterfly, so to speak. Over the summer, Khamenei joined Instagram, and now it appears Iran's most powerful person is on Facebook as well.

The page went live December 13 and so far has been liked by nearly 5,000 users. Hat tip to Brian Fung at the Atlantic for the pointer.