Facebook asked to pull Scrabulous
Facebook has been asked to remove the Scrabulous game from its website by the makers of Scrabble. — The Facebook add-on has proved hugely popular on the social network site and regularly racks up more than 500,000 daily users.
Context & Ripple Effects
Scrabulous had already built enough user attachment to prompt a campaign to save the game days before the removal request. With more than 500,000 daily users, the dispute turns a popular Facebook add-on into a test of how the platform handles third-party applications challenged by rights holders.
First-order effects
- Facebook must weigh the Scrabble makers' removal request against continued access to a game used daily by more than 500,000 people.
- Scrabulous faces an immediate threat to its distribution on Facebook, while its users face potential loss of the social game they have organized around.
Second-order effects
- Other Facebook application developers gain a clear incentive to examine whether popular apps rely on brands or game formats that could draw rights-holder objections.
- Scrabble's makers can use Facebook's decision as leverage over where and how Scrabble-like games reach the social network's audience.
Third-order effects
- If rights-holder complaints become a regular route to application removal, Facebook's role shifts from hosting add-ons to actively governing which third-party services can reach its users.
The trend: Social-network platforms are becoming gatekeepers that must reconcile fast-growing third-party applications with intellectual-property claims.