Shakespeare once famously wrote, 鈥淜ill all the lawyers鈥� in his play, Henry VI Pt. 2.
While that is a sentiment anyone can understand who has ever been on the receiving end of a lawyer鈥檚 letter 鈥� like the one this very newspaper once got telling us to use the term 鈥渋nsulated flask鈥� instead of the brand name everyone uses to describe the portable container they use to transport hot soup and coffee 鈥� it shows Shakespeare鈥檚 priorities were mixed up.
First, you kill all the politicians, then the lawyers鈥� and then possibly those people who don鈥檛 use their turn signals, if you鈥檝e got time and bullets left.
Oh, and the people who have more than 10 items at the 10-items-or-less checkout line at the supermarket 鈥� they gotta go, too.
But, truthfully we are all probably going to need the services of a lawyer at one time or another during our lives, so it is probably a good idea to keep at least one or two around to help us stay out of jail, sue the pants off someone or give us legal advice.
Because, let鈥檚 face it, the law is a complicated, complex and convoluted thing, and you need special knowledge to navigate its shark-infested waters. Although that certainly doesn鈥檛 stop some people from pretending they鈥檙e lawyers every darn time Facebook changes its privacy policies or alters itself in any way.
If you鈥檝e been on the social media site lately, no doubt you鈥檝e seen people posting a legal notice on their timelines about protecting their privacy rights and copyright.
I鈥檝e seen a couple different forms of the notice, but generally it goes something like: 鈥淒ue to the fact that Facebook has chosen to involve software that will allow the theft of my personal information, I state: at this date, in response to the new guidelines of Facebook, pursuant to articles L.111, 112 and 113 of the code of intellectual property, I declare that my rights are attached to all my personal data drawings, paintings, photos, video, texts etc.... published on my profile and my page. For commercial use of the foregoing my written consent is required at all times.鈥�
They used the word 鈥減ursuant,鈥� so it鈥檚 got to be totally legit, right?
Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but posting such things on your Facebook timeline does not, in fact, opt you out of or immunize you from undesirable consequences. According to hoax-debunking site Snopes.com, users cannot 鈥渞etroactively negate any of the privacy or copyright terms they agreed to when they signed up for their accounts, nor can they unilaterally alter or contradict any new privacy or copyright terms instituted by Facebook, simply by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls.鈥�
That鈥檚 kind of like expecting someone to give you a crown just because you shout out, 鈥淚鈥檓 king of the world.鈥� It just doesn鈥檛 work. You hear me, Leonardo DiCaprio?
But anyone actually worried about their Facebook postings and privacy needn鈥檛 fret anyway. When the aforementioned postings started first appearing a few years ago, Facebook actually issued a statement saying, 鈥淎nyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms. They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been.鈥�
So, Facebook doesn鈥檛 own your intellectual property 鈥� you do (insomuch as funny cat pictures can be deemed 鈥渋ntellectual鈥�).
But people fall for these type of Facebook hoaxes all the time, littering their timelines with nonsense about Bill Gates giving away free money for sharing the post, and chain letter-style updates urging you to cut-and-paste some post for increased luck, cash or blessings. Yes, as P.T. Barnum said, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a sucker born every minute.鈥�
So yes, Shakespeare did get it wrong. It should be politicians, lawyers鈥� and then gullible people.
