Facebook cancels changes to user rules.

• Position: PRIVACY - Brief article

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Popular social networking site Facebook, which allows users to share photos and personal messages, recently took an about face when it decided to cancel planned changes to its user rules that would have meant it would own the information individuals post online.

Facing protests from tens of thousands of angry users and the threat of a formal legal complaint by several consumer advocacy groups, the company reversed changes to its contract with users that would have given it ownership in perpetuity of their photos and written correspondence posted on the service.

Facebook denied intentions to own user content, but said it would rescind the changes and restore an earlier version of its membership contract for its 175 million users. According to the New York Times, Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, also invited users to contribute to a new...