Facebook's new terms of service: Direct Democracy 2.0

In light of Facebook's recent Terms of Use conflicts, users' pages are now stamped with a message linked to a blog post from founder Mark Zuckerberg announcing suggested changes to how Facebook may be governed in the future.

Two documents, called "Facebook Principles" and "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities" have been posted for user review and comment. These will not go into effect until they have been voted upon and changed by the users. The comment period closes at 12:01 am Pacific Time on March 29.

"History tells us that systems are most fairly governed when there is an open and transparent dialogue between the people who make decisions and those who are affected by them," Zuckerberg says, "We believe history will one day show that this principle holds true for companies as well, and we're looking to moving in this direction with you."

The revised terms of service have been presented as a sixteen section proposal with three major areas of debate. The first of these issues was the limitation of Facebook's license over users' content. No longer can the terms "perpetual" and "irrevocable" be used, and clear limits are to be placed on use of content.

The second issue involves making everything in Facebook opt-in. Yes, it sounds very much like Facebook could be going the way of Windows Vista with constant halts for user approval, but in truth it's a bit more dire. "We sought to address this comment by adopting a virtual Town Hall process for providing users with notice of proposed changes and an opportunity to comment, as well as an opportunity to vote where certain thresholds are met."

It is opt-in by committee.

The third major issue involves the simplicity and clarity of the Terms of Service. Zuckerberg says there is no way around certain phraseology, and that certain concepts demand very specific legal wording, but they have striven to make the Statements as clear as possible.

The Facebook Principles reads very much like the Bill of Rights. It is a plain English statement which is meant to serve as the foundation of the Rights and Responsibilities document. The ten principles are: Freedom to Share and Connect, Ownership and Control of Information, Free Flow of Information, Fundamental Equality, Social Value, Open Platforms and Standards, Fundamental Service, Common Welfare, Transparent Process, and "One World."