Photo-Humiliation Site Sparks Facebook Fury

'Paparazzi for the masses' site YoBusted accused of extortion, copyright infringement
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 12, 2009 3:15 AM CST
Photo-Humiliation Site Sparks Facebook Fury
Facebook users complain that their embarrassing photos are being uploaded to a site that charges a membership fee to have them removed.   (AP Photo/Facebook)

Facebook isn't laughing about a site trying to cash in on people's funny photos, reports BusinessWeek. YoBusted features embarrassing photos sent in by users, often lifted from Facebook. Anybody who wants his or her photo removed has to sign up for a $20-a-month membership. Any "friend" who sends in a posted photo gets a $10 cut.

YoBusted says it's just letting people have harmless fun by playing at being paparazzi, but Facebook says it's misusing Facebook content, and has asked the FBI to investigate whether the payments constitute blackmail. Legal experts—who believe YoBusted could face extortion charges—warn social networkers to be careful with the privacy settings on their party pics if they don't want to end up paying to have them taken down.
(More Facebook stories.)

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