Fllckr Users Plan ‘Mass Suicide’
A group of 400 Flickr users lead by Thomas Müller, who has loaded more than 1,400 photos at the site are planning a symbolic “mass suicide” to protest closer integration with the website’s new owner Yahoo!, who acquired the service in March. The users are protesting over a new requirement to tie their member profiles with Yahoo accounts or lose their photos:
We will be migrating all independent Flickr accounts to Yahoo’s network in 2006. At that time, if you have not done so already, you will be asked to create a Yahoo ID (or link your account to your Yahoo ID if you already have one) in order to continue using your account.
Personally, I don’t see what all the fuss is about as I think Flickr will benefit from having access to Yahoo’s cash and resources. I remember when one of my favourite services, Launch.com, was acquired by Yahoo! - the service improved tenfold after the acquisition.
I honestly think that the Flickr users have nothing to worry about, and it is unlikely Yahoo! will make the same mistake it did when it acquired GeoCities and claimed the copyright on all members’ pages.
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Comment by Anonymous on 31 August 2005:
You dont see the problem? How about “I dont want a yahoo account”, in fact it galls me unbelievably to be told I HAVE to have one to continue using the service.
Comment by NLP Master on 16 August 2007:
If you don’t want one, then don’t use it. Having a yahoo account as price to entry isn’t such a big deal. Just think of it as a bonus, not a burden