On January 26, 2011, I received a Cease & Desist/Take Down Notice.

Arthur,

As I mentioned, we have serious concerns about the way your product accesses Facebook data and content.  The description you provided to me today unfortunately did nothing to assuage these concerns.  As I am sure you understand, Facebook takes the protection of its users’ privacy and the security of their data very seriously.

While I appreciate the sentiment behind wanting the ability to download photos in quantity, your PhotoJacker product violates Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which governs Facebook’s relationship with its users and others who interact with Facebook.

Please reference section 3.2 of our SRR, http://www.facebook.com/terms.php?ref=pf, as well as our developer site, http://developers.facebook.com/.  I’m also very concerned that you are opening yourself to claims that you are facilitating copyright infringement via the download of the albums of others.  If you wish to build products that facilitate Facebook users’ ability to use their data, I’d advise you to build something using the APIs we provide rather than working around or contravening our site’s limitations.  Or, make a suggestion for functionality you would like to see.  http://www.facebook.com/help/?topic=suggestions. 

If you believe you have exposed a flaw in the security of our site, please describe it specifically and in technical detail in a written response so that our engineers may evaluate possible solutions.  Any such submission is subject to the terms applicable to all use of the Facebook service.

 I’m going to need to you cease operating your add-ons immediately, and delete any Facebook data you may have accessed or retained in the course of their operation.  Please provide me with written confirmation of your compliance by the end of the week.  I truly hope I don’t have to pass this matter on for further action by our legal team.

Thanks,

Kat Johnston