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Facebook's refusal to let me download my address book from Facebook is my biggest gripe about their service. Plaxo was going to solve this problem, and anything Google and Yahoo can do to help Plaxo in this round should help them in the long term. Google in particular already has an export feature, so it comes with the best hand.
How about a standard way to authorize a third party to get my address book? This way, I could tell Gmail and LinkedIn and Facebook to allow Plaxo. This should come as an option -- one-time access or continued.
Google has a carrot here, too.
While I'm not prepared to let Facebook have my email password, I'd gladly let them have my email address book. Particularly, if they suggest new friends to me and *let me export it back*.
It already exists, it's called OAuth. If you would like it then support DataPortability.
Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail should take the high road, let Facebook continue to be a "dead end" until they realize that by opening up they could unlock far more value, by which time it will probably be too late for them.
http://myfbcontacts.blogspot.com/
Facebook better come up with acceptable means for people to take control of their data (not all of it).
The issue is that you can't police things use by use. I don't spam my contacts on LinkedIn or Facebook, so no one has ever asked me how I knew they were there. I could have just done a manual search by name... however, the general concept of spidering content without permission from non-public spaces is probably a bad thing. Drawing the line of abuse is tough, so they put a catch-all TOS in there, but technically, you're right...
everyone should be on a level playing field.
Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft et al should be applauded for allowing the contact exports despite their TOSes.
Facebook needs to learn to play fair on this front as well.
Especially since it's the right thing to do for the users.
Gmail and Google in general have a stated policy (by Schmidt at least) of not holding user data hostage. I know of no such statement from Yahoo or Microsoft, and both companies have a long history of "walled garden" behavior.
Facebook hypocritically claims that they are protecting their servers from harm by not allowing scraping. But if that were actually the case, they could allow a simple text export of my contact data for import into other services. Clearly their only concern is that they be allowed to capture data from other services and not be obligated to give it back.
Furthermore, and not nearly well enough articulated by the blogosphere (or whatever) is the fact that Facebook retains your data even if you cancel your account. I can't think of any other company that does this, and it strikes me as actionable, even though it is in their TOS. It's like the non-compete clause of an employment contract: Yeah, it's in there, and yeah, you signed it, but it is enforcable? Quite another matter.
Still, anyone granting Facebook access to a lot of personal information after reading (I know, they didn't) that TOS is nuts.
Pot calling kettle black? :)))
It just sounds like Facebook is taking their ball and headin' home. Pantywaists!
Second, can I have your SSN number, your date/place of birth and your mother's maiden name, please? I promise I will not remember them after I try something here.
Gmail users in particular shouldn't complain, since Gmail offers a legitimate way for you to export most anything (e.g. Gmail contacts to .csv files).