Facebook updates developer policy after Vine scuffle

Facebook has updated its policies for third-party application developers in a bid to explain why Twitter's new Vine video-sharing app is unable to access Facebook's friend-finder tool.

While the updated policies don't mention Vine by name, the biggest changes appear designed to explain why Facebook decided to block the app, a move that sparked a wave of criticism this week.

In a blog post Friday, Facebook's Justin Osofsky, director of platform partnerships and operations, said the "clarifications" were published after the site received questions about its policies over the past few days.

"For the vast majority of developers building social apps and games, keep doing what you're doing," he wrote. But a "much smaller number of apps" violate its policy by using Facebook to "replicate our functionality or bootstrap their growth in a way that creates little value for people on Facebook, such as not providing users an easy way to share back to Facebook."

Vine, which is owned by Twitter and launched Thursday, includes a tool that allows users to search for their Facebook friends and add them to their Vine network. Vine also lets users automatically share the videos they create with the app with their Facebook friends -- a function that remains intact -- as well as with their Twitter and internal Vine connections.

Controversy broke out when users discovered later on Thursday that the Facebook friend-search tool had been disabled. Facebook has yet to say whether it intentionally blocked the feature, but the clarified policies it published Friday explain where the site stands on matters related to competitors using its social graph.

One of the amended sections reads: "You may not use Facebook Platform to promote, or to export user data to, a product or service that replicates a core Facebook product or service without our permission." The policies don't say what, exactly, constitutes a "core" Facebook product.

The new policies retain similar language about permissions, but give additional guidance about data-sharing with third-party apps. On the topic of reciprocity, for instance, the policies say developers can build their own social network via Facebook's API (application programming interface), but only if the app allows users to share their experiences back with Facebook users. Vine does offer this functionality.

Asked whether Facebook blocked the search tool or if there was a technical issue on Twitter's end, Twitter has said it has no comment beyond the error message users get when they try to perform the search.

The new guidelines also say that if Facebook disables an app, the developer of the app must delete all the user information it collected through Facebook's API, unless it is basic account information or it receives consent from the user to retain it.

Finally, the policies clarify that developers are responsible for "providing users with a quality experience and must not confuse, defraud, mislead, spam or surprise users."

Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com

How to Collect $10 From Facebook

If Facebook used your likeness in Sponsored Stories, an advertising feature introduced in early 2011, you may be eligible for your share of a $20 million settlement in a class action privacy lawsuit.

Sponsored Stories used either a user's name or profile picture as an endorsement of the product or service in the ad, without the users' consent. You could not opt-out of the feature, which advocacy groups and users considered a violation of privacy. Facebook decided to settle rather than fight the allegations in court.

The settlement that Facebook agreed to in October sets aside $20 million for affected users. If you're one of them, Facebook will pay you up to $10. Here's what you need to do to cash in.

How to Collect the Cash From Facebook

If you were affected by Sponsored Stories, check your inbox and spam filter for an email from Facebook-excerpted below-notifying you of the class action settlement. The emails were sent out the week of January 21, and many people disregarded them as a hoax.

If you received the email, you have until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on May 2, 2013 to file an electronic or postmarked claim form, which you can find on the Fraley v. Facebook website. It will ask you for your name, email address, Facebook user ID and the claim number provided to you in the email.

Once you submit your claim, you're done: Payments will be cut after June.

But, according to the settlement notice, there is one major stipulation: If too many Facebook users file a claim, the money will go to charity.

There's nothing to lose by filing a claim-best-case scenario: Facebook buys you lunch.

Kristin Burnham covers consumer technology, social networking, social business and enterprise collaboration for CIO.com. Follow Kristin on Twitter @kmburnham. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline and on Facebook. Email Kristin at kburnham@cio.com

Read more about consumer in CIO's Consumer Drilldown.

ISOC honors Facebook, Comcast execs for IPv6 work

The Internet Society last night awarded its highest honor for work related to IPv6, the next generation Internet Protocol, to executives from Facebook and Comcast. Recipients of the award were Paul Saab and Donn Lee, software engineers at Facebook, and John Brzozowski, Distinguished Engineer and Chief Architect for IPv6 at Comcast.

RELATED: Why the Internet needs IPv6

The three engineers received the Itojun Service Award, which recognizes extraordinary dedication to IPv6 deployment. The award is named for Dr. Jun-ichiro "Itojun" Hagino, an active member of the Internet engineering community who died in 2007. Now in its fourth year, the Itojun Service Award includes a $3,000 prize and a crystal plaque.

Brzozowski was honored for his "tireless efforts in providing IPv6 connectivity to cable users all over the world,'' according to Jun Murai of the Itojun Service Award committee. Saab and Lee were honored "for their efforts in making high-profile content available for IPv6 and for their key contributions to World IPv6 Day and World IPv6 Launch," he said.

Previous recipients of the Itojun award were executives from Google, FreeBSD and a French ISP called Free.

"It's obviously a great honor to be recognized with many friends and colleagues,'' Brzozowski said, urging the network engineers in the audience to "keep working hard to deploy IPv6.''

Saab told the audience that "IPv6 turned out not to be so difficult. I encourage everybody to start doing IPv6. We are only 1% to 2% complete, and we need to get to 100%."

IPv6 is the long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol, which is known as IPv4.

IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses and can support 4.3 billion devices connected directly to the Internet. IPv6, on the other hand, uses 128-bit addresses and supports a virtually unlimited number of devices - 2 to the 128th power. The Internet needs IPv6 because it is running out of IPv4 addresses.

Brzozowski said that 2.5% of Comcast's traffic currently runs over IPv6, and that Comcast will be done with its IPv6 deployment for all U.S. residential customers by June 2013.

Facebook has had IPv6 deployed in production mode since May 2012.

Read more about lan and wan in Network World's LAN & WAN section.