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LUCY FUNES, Individually and On Behalf Of All Others Similarly Situated vs. INSTAGRAM, No. 12-cv-6482, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California:
The first of several expected class action lawsuits against Facebook's new corporate acquisition, INSTAGRAM was filed on Friday, December 21st, 2012 in federal court in San Francisco, for breach of contract, violation of privacy, and other claims regarding Facebook-Instagram's photo-sharing services.
Facebook Instagram's announcement of changes in the terms ("ToS": Terms of Service) of its photo-sharing product/services was met, predictably, with enormous user/customer backlash in social media.
Instagram, which allows people to add filters and effects to photos and share them easily on the Internet, was acquired by Facebook earlier this year for $715 million.
In announcing revised terms of service last week, Instagram spurred suspicions that it would sell user photos without compensation. It also announced a mandatory arbitration clause, forcing users to waive their rights to participate in a class action lawsuit except under very limited circumstances.
The current terms of service, in effect through mid-January, contain no such liability shield.
The backlash prompted Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom to retreat partially a few days later, deleting language about displaying photos without compensation.
However, Instagram kept language that gave it the ability to place ads in conjunction with user content, and saying "that we may not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such."
It also kept the mandatory arbitration clause in its ToS (Terms of Service).
"In short, Instagram declares that 'possession [of consumers' photos] is nine-tenths of the law and if you don't like it, you can't stop us,'" the lawsuit says.
Class Action 101: As a refresher, in law a "class action" lawsuit is a form of civil lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or which a class of defendants is being sued.
[en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/ "1-Instragram Furor Triggers First Class Action Lawsuit"/ 12-24-2012; www.reuters.com/article/12-24-2012/ "Instagram Lawsuit"; www.bizjournal.com/sanjose/news/news/12-24-2012/ "Class Action Suit Filed Against Instagram Over ToS Changes"; www.forbes.com/sites/12-24-2012/ "Instagram Hit With Class Action Lawsuit"]
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