Instagram may have done some quick backtracking on the proposed
changes to its terms of use that outraged its users last week, but not
quickly enough to avoid being sued.
The photo sharing app’s new terms of service, which were to take
effect next month, caused many users to threaten to leave the service.
The wording of the planned terms of use led Instagram users to believe
the company would have the right to grab users pictures and other data
to promote itself on its website or in advertising without mention of or
compensation to the owner of the images.
The lawsuit
claims the proposed changes would “transfer valuable property rights to
Instagram while simultaneously relieving Instagram from any liability
for commercially exploiting customers’ photographs and artistic content,
while shielding Instagram from legal liability.”
The complaint,
filed by San Diego resident Lucy Funes in U.S. District Court in San
Francisco, says Instagram is making a “grab for customer property
rights,” while preventing its users from “obtaining injunctive or
equitable relief.” The planned terms would also “artificially limit the
statute of limitations for all claims against Instagram to one year,”
the suit reads.
The lawsuit
indicates Funes “is acting to preserve valuable and important property,
statutory, and legal rights” before legal claims are “forever barred by
adoption of Instagram’s new terms.”
Under the previously planned terms of use, Instagram said users could
not opt out but could delete their accounts before the changes were to
take effect Jan. 16.
The lawsuit says users who opted to cancel would forfeit the right to
their photos. “In short, Instagram declares ‘possession is nine-tenths
of the law and if you don’t like it, you can’t stop us. ‘” the lawsuit
reads.
Reuters reported Facebook, which owns Instagram, has said the lawsuit
is “without merit” and the social network would “fight it vigorously.”
Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom wrote in a blog the photo-sharing
app is not only going back to its October 2010 terms of use, it has no
present plans to roll out any new ad products that would require it to
be changed.
“The concerns we heard about from you the most focused on
advertising, and what our changes might mean for you and your photos,”
Systrom wrote in a blog post. “There was confusion and real
concern about what our possible advertising products could look like
and how they would work. “Because of the feedback we have heard from
you, we are reverting this advertising section to the original version
that has been in effect since we launched the service in October 2010. You can see the updated terms here.”
Systrom also said the Facebook-owned company in the future would
decide what products it wants to offer before changing the terms of use
to ensure company lawyers do not draft a policy that gives the firm more
latitude than it requires.
“Going forward, rather than obtain permission from you to introduce
possible advertising products we have not yet developed, we are going to
take the time to complete our plans, and then come back to our users
and explain how we would like for our advertising business to work,” he
wrote.
Post from: SiteProNews
Instagram Sued Over Plan to Change Terms of Use
