Well, an update to the Facebook ad caper that I blogged about here and that John Distaso picked up. I have received but a small amount of satisfaction:
Hi Skip,
The ads in question that were using your photo and name without permission have been removed from our system.
Political calculus – one day before the voting.
As advertisers are ultimately responsible for the text and image they use when creating their ads, we suggest contacting the advertiser directly if you wish to further pursue this matter, as Facebook is not in a position to arbitrate these disputes. Because we respect the privacy of all users, we cannot discuss or release our advertisers’ account information without a legal mandate to do so (e.g., a subpoena, court order).
Please let us know if you have additional questions or concerns.
Thanks for contacting Facebook,
Brett
Online Sales Operations
I sent back the following, stating the obvious:
Thank you for the takedown. At this point, please inform me who it was (be it a person or a corporate entity) that paid to use my likeness without my permission so that I might take legal action against them.
I duly note, from your disclaimer below, it seems that even with this request the identity of the sponsoring entity who used my likeness completely contrary to my beliefs, you will not release that information to me.
Thus, you are being complicit in that theft of my reputation; as I am a single blogger, it will be rather difficult to launch a full fledged legal action against two entities, with one having the financial resources such as yourselves. In effect, even having reviewed my case and found it to be truthful, you have made the financial calculus that I will not or can not take you to court.
Further, the person who took out the ad did so deliberately knowing that you would act as a blocking maneuver so as to shield themselves.
"Bad form, Facebook", as the Brits are wont to say.
-Skip
So if you are a lawyer with time on your hands, let’s talk….
