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Are you saying that Facebook shouldn't be allowed to own any product that can be shared on a competitors platform? Seems kinda ridiculous.
by throwaway4715 6y ago
Are you saying that Facebook shouldn't be allowed to own any product that can be shared on a competitors platform? Seems kinda ridiculous.
- adjkant 6y agoNo, I am saying that them retroactively buying it without warning and getting access to the historical data, which users and developers did not intend to give to Facebook, is the off part. If Facebook bought this or developed it themselves and then these companies integrated Giphy, it's obviously very different. Basically this implies that any data you give to any third party can then basically be bought by your competition. I think legal language that prevents this would likely be a net good thing. I of course realize it's fair game, but that seems like a great way to discourage the use of any third parties generally. The acquisition itself is very valid from a product standpoint, but I suspect a big reason for the buy was that data on competitors as Facebook claws back against pressure from rising platforms. I would bet a good deal of money this will be used to inform future acquisitions and fuel the black hole of Facebook acquisitions and squashing of any competitors.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- hedora 6y ago> I think legal language that prevents this would likely be a net good thing. Language that protects end user data across changes in company ownership basic doesn’t exist. For one thing, if the company goes bankrupt, the data is an asset of values, and the court will allow them to void prior contracts so that they can sell off assets and pay their debts. This is legal for the same reason pensions get zeroed out during bankruptcies and acquisitions. If the new owners can steal retirement money from current and former employees, you can bet they can sell whatever treasure troves of data the company has amassed.
- zarriak 6y agoYes, do you genuinely believe that they have sufficiently changed after the vast amount of data given away to Cambridge Analytica and other firms just two years ago mean they should have access to historical data? I genuinely think you should have to opt in to data sharing when a company covered by CCPA is purchased. I think you can make a very compelling case that this sale covers the sale of data from Giphy to Facebook which many users may not want them to do.
- throwaway4715 6y agoI don't think whether they have changed affects their ability to buy Giphy. Your CCPA point is interesting though. However my guess is the CCPA is unlikely to be used in that way as it would affect nearly every acquisition in every industry.
- zarriak 6y agoThen it should apply in every industry. It is absurd to think that this is not inherent a sale of data and of data collection technologies. I would assume that in Facebook's acquisition these are two different things have been priced in even with other social media companies like twitter removing giphy from within the app, they have years of historical Twitter Gif data. I would find that data much more valuable than something that will probably be removed in short order from many apps now that it is owned by Facebook.