San Francisco Chronicle Articles on the Steamtunnels Facebook
The San Francisco Chronicle provided the following coverage of the Steamtunnels Facebook at Stanford:
Web Site At Stanford Can’t Display Student Photos
Bill Workman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 23, 1999
Stanford University has marshaled its legal might to block a student- run Web site from displaying thousands of student photos scanned from a university “facebook” that is distributed to freshmen every fall.
The university contends that the “Steamtunnels” site violates Stanford’s copyright on its publication and invades the privacy of students whose names, photos and hometowns went online without their consent.
The “facebook,” which is distributed only on campus, is designed to help freshmen get to know one another better.
Creators of the disputed site said that they set it up to put some life into Stanford’s “stagnant social scene” and that they have considerable student support for what they are doing. But they have managed to galvanize campus lawyers and administrators into action.
The students, who identify themselves online only as “DJ Monkey,” “The Sultan” and “Drunken Master,” were warned a few days ago by Stanford that they might face possible legal action if they did not immediately take the facebook photos off the Internet…. continued Click here for full article
Stanford Freshman `Facebook’ Photos Safe
Chronicle Staff Report
Saturday, September 25, 1999
A Stanford student-run Web site that had been threatened with legal action by the university has agreed not to display any photos of freshmen unless the photos are supplied by the students themselves, and are not scanned from Stanford’s freshman “facebook.”
The agreement was reached Thursday after the three students who created the alternative campus site, steamtunnels.net, met for a second time with officials.
Campus lawyers had insisted that scanning the pictures from the facebook violated copyright law. In addition, they argued, using a photo without a student’s consent was an invasion of privacy…. continued Click here for full article
Read on for the Steamtunnels About Us page from circa 1999.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:11 am
playwright larry myers was sighted leaving facebook new corporate barn in stanford! this is one witty wild and crazy guy and a very smart one…we hear he s penned a new play
“Facebook Puberty”
the connotations of that seem delectable.
he’s won prizes for his works in bay area and hollywood