Facebook Snatches User’s Vanity URL And Sells It To Harman International

[NashVegas]

Source: Tech Crunch

An avid Facebook user named Harman Bajwa says that his Facebook vanity Url – Facebook.com/Harman – was unceremoniously revoked yesterday for violating Facebook’s policies. His new Facebook URL is the much less memorable facebook.com/profile.php?id=538612932.

Facebook then apparently did a sales deal around the vanity URL with Harman International.

The notice from Facebook (also in image at bottom of post):

Please Read This!
Warning

The username you selected was removed for violating Facebook’s policies. A Facebook username should have a clear connection to one’s identity. In addition, impersonating anyone or anything is prohibited. If you see other people with usernames that do not accurately represent their real names, it is only because they have not yet been removed for misuse.

....

Harman also received an email yesterday from a representative of Harman International, which is apparently “working with Facebook” to take the /Harman username for a initiative they’re doing around the Grammy Awards. They’re offering “promotional items” to Harman to hand the name over willingly:

From: Tyler Bahl
To: Harman Bajwa
Sent: Fri, January 22, 2010 11:25:21 AM
Subject: Harman

Hi Harman,

Thanks for accepting my friend request on Facebook.

I’m the emerging media strategist at Carat in Boston and I work on the Harman International account. We’re launching our first initiative in partnership with the GRAMMYS on Monday. Harman International is looking to obtain the vanity url facebook.com/harman for their Facebook fan page.



Read more: http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/23/facebook-vanity-url-harman/

---

More at the link.

Just one more reason why I'm so glad I'm not on Facebook.

[hobbit709]

1. My attorney would have fun with this if it was me.

[Statistical]

12. How facebook is private property.

They own everything about it.

When you have a "vanity url" it simply is given to you for as long as facebook decided to let you keep it.

Now was what facebook did wrong? Of course.
Was it illegal? Hardly

[Mari333]

2. here are some privacy tips about Facebook via the NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/01/20/20readwriteweb-the-3-facebook-settings-every-user-should-c-29287.html?em

[3waygeek]

3. Note that Harman International

was founded by Sidney Harman, husband of Jane Harman.

[Robb]

4. Honestly, why does it so rarely occur to folks

...that MyFace and what-not don't actually have your best interests at heart?

[NashVegas]

8. Because People Are Attention Needy

And if they don't get it from the offline world, they will seek it online.

[Robb]

9. No!

Attention-needy? On the internet?? :D

[NashVegas]

13. If They Don't Get It

they turn into dingbats, I hear.

[Ian David]

5. I think he should ask for the same bag of goodies that celebrities get at The Grammys

... as well as tickets to the event and after-party, travel and hotel.

[Enrique]

6. Facebook embraces corporate personhood

I wonder, who would "friend" Harman International?

[thunder rising]

7. It's Facebook .. get a clue. You are a guest of the domain and nothing more

This could be fought in court at the cost of $1k and only end up forcing Facebook to reassign the name.

[hunter]

10. It's always better to buy your own vanity domain name.

You can always forward it to facebook, blogger, whatever, and if somebody else wants the domain name real bad, maybe they might buy it from you.

But that's not foolproof either. Big corporations get what they want.

[chimpymustgo]

11. "Big corporations get what they want."

[ManiacJoe]

14. Facebook gave it back.

According to a follow up article on techcrunch.com