from the you-already-fucked-up dept.

To preface, I didn’t use Instagram all that much, but when I did, I was pretty much assured by their ToS that my images will be mine and that they would not be used for anything else. The other day, Instagram decided to inform its users that they will be changing their ToS/ToU and I didn’t quite like that. Take the leap for more info.

Below is the new ToS/ToU as of today from their site (http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms/)

Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use: Our updated Terms of Use will be effective on January 16, 2013.

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By using the instagr.am/instagram.com website and Instagram service you are agreeing to be bound by the following terms and conditions (“Terms of Use”).

Basic Terms

1. You must be 13 years or older to use this site.
2. You may not post nude, partially nude, or sexually suggestive photos.
3. You are responsible for any activity that occurs under your screen name.
4. You are responsible for keeping your password secure.
5. You must not abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate or intimidate other Instagram users.
6. You may not use the Instagram service for any illegal or unauthorized purpose. International users agree to comply with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.
7. You are solely responsible for your conduct and any data, text, information, screen names, graphics, photos, profiles, audio and video clips, links (“Content”) that you submit, post, and display on the Instagram service.
8. You must not modify, adapt or hack Instagram or modify another website so as to falsely imply that it is associated with Instagram.
9. You must not access Instagram’s private API by any other means other than the Instagram application itself.
10. You must not crawl, scrape, or otherwise cache any content from Instagram including but not limited to user profiles and photos.
11. You must not create or submit unwanted email or comments to any Instagram members (“Spam”).
12. You must not use web URLs in your name without prior written consent from Instagram, inc.
13. You must not transmit any worms or viruses or any code of a destructive nature.
14. You must not, in the use of Instagram, violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to copyright laws).
15. Violation of any of these agreements will result in the termination of your Instagram account. While Instagram prohibits such conduct and content on its site, you understand and agree that Instagram cannot be responsible for the Content posted on its web site and you nonetheless may be exposed to such materials and that you use the Instagram service at your own risk.

General Conditions

1. We reserve the right to modify or terminate the Instagram service for any reason, without notice at any time.
2. We reserve the right to alter these Terms of Use at any time. If the alterations constitute a material change to the Terms of Use, we will notify you via internet mail according to the preference expressed on your account. What constitutes a “material change” will be determined at our sole discretion, in good faith and using common sense and reasonable judgement.
3. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time.
4. We reserve the right to force forfeiture of any username that becomes inactive, violates trademark, or may mislead other users.
5. We may, but have no obligation to, remove Content and accounts containing Content that we determine in our sole discretion are unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party’s intellectual property or these Terms of Use.
6. We reserve the right to reclaim usernames on behalf of businesses or individuals that hold legal claim or trademark on those usernames.

Proprietary Rights in Content on Instagram

1. Instagram does NOT claim ANY ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, or any other materials (collectively, “Content”) that you post on or through the Instagram Services. By displaying or publishing (“posting”) any Content on or through the Instagram Services, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, worldwide, limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate such Content, including without limitation distributing part or all of the Site in any media formats through any media channels, except Content not shared publicly (“private”) will not be distributed outside the Instagram Services.
2. Some of the Instagram Services are supported by advertising revenue and may display advertisements and promotions, and you hereby agree that Instagram may place such advertising and promotions on the Instagram Services or on, about, or in conjunction with your Content. The manner, mode and extent of such advertising and promotions are subject to change without specific notice to you.
3. You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on or through the Instagram Services or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, (ii) the posting and use of your Content on or through the Instagram Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, intellectual property rights or any other rights of any person, and (iii) the posting of your Content on the Site does not result in a breach of contract between you and a third party. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of Content you post on or through the Instagram Services.
4. The Instagram Services contain Content of Instagram (“Instagram Content”). Instagram Content is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other laws, and Instagram owns and retains all rights in the Instagram Content and the Instagram Services. Instagram hereby grants you a limited, revocable, nonsublicensable license to reproduce and display the Instagram Content (excluding any software code) solely for your personal use in connection with viewing the Site and using the Instagram Services.
5. The Instagram Services contain Content of Users and other Instagram licensors. Except as provided within this Agreement, you may not copy, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, distribute, perform, display, or sell any Content appearing on or through the Instagram Services.
6. Instagram performs technical functions necessary to offer the Instagram Services, including but not limited to transcoding and/or reformatting Content to allow its use throughout the Instagram Services.
7. Although the Site and other Instagram Services are normally available, there will be occasions when the Site or other Instagram Services will be interrupted for scheduled maintenance or upgrades, for emergency repairs, or due to failure of telecommunications links and equipment that are beyond the control of Instagram. Also, although Instagram will normally only delete Content that violates this Agreement, Instagram reserves the right to delete any Content for any reason, without prior notice. Deleted content may be stored by Instagram in order to comply with certain legal obligations and is not retrievable without a valid court order. Consequently, Instagram encourages you to maintain your own backup of your Content. In other words, Instagram is not a backup service. Instagram will not be liable to you for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation of the Instagram Services, or the loss of any Content.

The “Right” in question is #2. If that was changed, then follow this link to see what it was and see the image in the middle of this site.

The way I see it is this…Instagram, you made a bet that users wouldn’t really read your ToS and when they did and got confused by legal terms, they took it the wrong way and spread hate across the Internet, much as I have done and have deleted their account to move on to better pastures. You got caught and now have to backpedal your statements and either take out the offending right in question and then make the general public understand by re-wording this information and to educate us on what your “true” intention was. Live and learn.

I do see some things that have gone on from TechCrunch about what has been happening and those links will appear at the bottom of this post. Yes, I complained and made it vocal to the small group of followers I have (again posted here) and I am following through with it. My Instagram account has been deleted, photos backed up, and I will not use Instagram again. This was really the last straw on leaving Instagram and the first one was that they took away Twitter integration, just as an FYI.

I may be over-reacting and if I am, so be it, let me get flamed for it, I don’t give a shit. I just need to find a service that allows for my photos to be uploaded to a service, be streamlined within Twitter and Facebook and hopefully (read doubtful) with Google+ and that my images cannot be used for advertising and such. So, for the next few days, you may see some posts on my Twitter/FB/G+ with test images uploaded via various means from cellphone to other Instagram clones and hopefully with a review of each one here on my blog.

Also, read many of the comments from those links below, they best represent most of what I am trying to say here. I am ok with putting words together that make up a sentence and a complete thought, but there are others better than I.

Stay tuned my friends!

Links (all links go directly to TechCrunch):
Instagram Will Share User Data With Facebook According To Its New Privacy Policy – http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/17/instagram-will-share-users-data-with-facebook-according-to-its-new-privacy-policy/
Quit Instagram, They Said. They’re Selling Your Photos, They Said. – http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/18/a-valencia-filtered-middle-finger/
Instagram Co-founder Kevin Systrom Says It Is Committed To “Answering Questions And Fixing Mistakes” – http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/18/instagram-co-founder-kevin-systrom-says-it-is-committed-to-answering-questions-and-fixing-mistakes/
Instagram Speaks Out On Users’ Concerns About TOS Changes, Will There Be A Beacon-Like Apology? – http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/18/instagram-speaks-out-on-users-concerns-about-tos-changes-will-have-more-to-share-soon/
The Backlash Continues: Zuck’s Sis Doesn’t Seem To Like The Instagram Changes Either – http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/18/the-backlash-continues-zucks-sis-doesnt-seem-to-like-the-instagram-changes-either/

from the tough-love dept.

WARNING: This post, after the leap, possibly contains graphic material in regards to flesh wounds to the face. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
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