Featured page owners get subscribe button – Fans can now more easily subscribe to Facebook page admins who make themselves visible as “Page Owners.” Facebook added a subscribe button to this featured section of pages on Friday. This only applies to page owners who have enabled subscribers.

Zuckerberg weighs in on SOPA -  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg weighed in on the Stop Online Piracy Act on Wednesday, writing in a Facebook post, “We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the Internet’s development.”

Facebook fifth in video viewers – ComScore reported this week that Facebook was the fifth most popular destination for online video behind Google, VEVO, Yahoo and Viacom. This is among the 182 million Internet users in the U.S. who watched online videos in December. Last year Facebook placed sixth, but generally has not seen steady growth in this category. [Image via ZDnet]

Employees increasingly use social media at work -  Palo Alto Networks found a 300 percent increase in social networking on corporate networks this year. Specifically, bandwidth consumption for Facebook apps, social plugins and posting increased from 5 percent to 25 percent since October 2010.

Update on Koobface virus -  Facebook security team posted an update about the Koobface virus this week, noting that after three years the company is been able to keep the virus off the platform, but is still seeking those responsible.

Next gen iPad includes Facebook code - iMore is reporting that buried within the iOS 5.1 beta 3 code for iPad3 are “ongoing references to Facebook.”

MTV uses Facebook for scholarships -  MTV has partnered with the College Board and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to run a campaign called My College Dollars, which guides students to college scholarships for which they can apply.

Facebook partners with Moo.com - Business card company Moo.com is offering Facebook users custom cards inspired by Timeline. In a unique partnership, Facebook has added a button to users’ info sections that leads to Moo.com, where people can design business cards using their cover photo and profile information. The companies are giving away the first 200,000 boxes of cards free.

Facebook announces 2012 Hacker Cup – Facebook made a blog post this week announcing the first Hacker Cup, opening up its famous hackathons to engineers around the world. Contestants will compete in five rounds based on accuracy and speed in solving algorithmic problems. The company will give away cash prizes up to $5,000.

East Palo Alto to review Facebook’s Menlo Park plans – City officials from East Palo Alto are concerned that expansion plans for Facebook’s new headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., could lead to traffic issues or displace residents. East Palo Alto council will meet in a closed session to discuss options to prevent such an impact.

California Facebook Ad Lawsuit Proceeds -  A U.S. District Judge in California has rejected Facebook’s request to dismiss a lawsuit from people claiming the site’s social advertisements count as unauthorized use of their names and likenesses.

Facebook the Top Searched Term in U.S. -  Experian reported this week that Facebook topped its list of the most search terms in the United States for the third year in a row, making up 3.1% of all searches. [Image Via Experian]

Facebook Completes Move to Menlo Park - The company moved the last of 2,000 employees from its Palo Alto office into a ten-building, 1-million square foot campus in Menlo Park on Monday. Facebook hopes to one day accommodate up to 9,400 employees there.

North Social’s Facebook Page Don’ts -  North Social put together a video montage of the worst things brands can do to gain fans on their Facebook pages.

Modea’s Wisdom Tree App, Find Gifts For Friends - An app from digital agency Modea allows users to select a friend, answer a few questions about them, and then suggests the perfect (gag) gift for this friend.

Ireland’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has found Facebook Ireland to be compliant with Irish and European Union law, and has reached an agreement that gives users even more control over privacy in the next six months.

The commissioner completed a three-month audit of Facebook Ireland following a formal complaint suggesting the social network was creating “shadow profiles” of non-users. Because Facebook’s international headquarters are located in Ireland, the commission there oversees the company’s legal compliance for all users outside of the United States and Canada. The audit found “positive approach and commitment” by Facebook Ireland to respect users’ privacy, but made several recommendations that the social network has committed addressing before a follow-up audit in July 2012.

These recommendations include increased control over tagging features, an update to the data use policy, sooner deletion of user and non-user data and more transparency and control over how personal data is used in advertising on the site.

With regard to “shadow profiles,” the commission determined though Facebook receives some non-user data, it is not being used to build profiles of those people. The report also states that the social network is “now taking active steps to delete any such information very quickly after it is received.”

The findings of the report are overall positive for Facebook, which many people mistrust because of the massive amounts of data it collects and new features that force users to opt out rather than opt in. How the company addresses individual recommendations from the commissioner remains to be seen, but it appears to be willing to make concessions on certain features to give users more control and satisfy watchdog agencies. According to a press release from the commissioner, “Taking a leadership position that moves from compliance with the law to the achievement of best practice is for Facebook Ireland to decide but if it continues to display the commitment I witnessed throughout the audit process it is certainly achievable.”

Last month, Facebook settled charges with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission so that any sharing-related privacy changes will now be up to users to opt into. This was in response to an action Facebook made in 2009, which forced all users to make some information public, including name, profile photo and list of friends.

The full report from the Data Protection Commissioner is available here. The social network responded to the report in a note on its Public Policy Europe page.

Europe Stifling Facebook’s Targeted Ads – The European Union is set to enact legislation to ban some avenues Facebook uses to create targeted ads, specifically by making Facebook be more transparent about what user data it’s collecting.

Spotify Opens Platform to Developers – Spotify announced the company would open its platform to app developers to include things like reviews and song lyrics, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Facebook May Allow Gambling in UK - Facebook is exploring opening up the platform to gambling in the United Kingdom, according to TechCrunch, maybe as soon as 2012.

Mobile Channels Pushing Traffic for SNAP Interactive - SNAP Interactive told TechCrunch that Facebook’s recently launched mobile channels have given the company’s apps a “significant” traffic boost.

WashPo Reader Boasts 3.5M Users – The Washington Post Social Reader now boasts more than 3.5 million subscribers, according to a company statement. The growth came in just two months and is especially popular with users under 35, 83% to be exact.

Other Announcements:

Liquidus Releases Socialink 2.0 - Liquidus released the new version of its marketing application for car retailers, Socialink 2.0. New features include video integrations.

Secure.me App Protects Users on Facebook – Secure.me is an app that protects users from over-sharing or phishing from viruses on Facebook.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with Facebook this morning over charges that the social network deceived users by failing to honor privacy agreements.

Under the agreement, Facebook:

• cannot misrepresent the privacy or security of users personal information;
• must get user consent before releasing changes that override existing privacy settings;
• must prevent people from accessing a user’s material no more than 30 days after that user has deleted their account;
• has to establish and maintain a privacy program that addresses risks that come with “the development and management” of products and services and that protects the privacy of user’s information;
• and — within 180 days and every two years afterward for the next 20 — must seek out third-party audits verifying that the privacy program is in place and that it satisfies the FTC’s order.

The agreement comes nearly two years after the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation raised concerns over Facebook’s 2009 changes to its privacy settings that exposed personal information — namely profile name, profile picture, list of friends, current city, gender, networks, and Pages — to a larger audience than the social network previously allowed. Earlier in 2011, it was reported that Facebook would settle with the FTC over charges that these changes deceived users and violated their privacy — making any changes that retroactively expose user data an opt-in instead of a mandatory change.

At this point, Facebook would have to take pretty intentional steps against the terms of the agreement to cause the FTC to pursue action against it again. In the last year alone, Facebook has also added or changed many features that affect privacy in ways that address the FTC’s complaint — like protecting user IDs from falling into the wrong hands.

In a Facebook response post to the agreement, Mark Zuckerberg says that he feels the platform has a positive track record for providing transparency and control over privacy settings.

“That said,” his post reads, “I’m the first to admit that we’ve made a bunch of mistakes. In particular, I think that a small number of high profile mistakes, like Beacon four years ago and poor execution as we transitioned our privacy model two years ago, have often overshadowed much of the good work we’ve done. I also understand that many people are just naturally skeptical of what it means for hundreds of millions of people to share so much personal information online, especially using any one service.  Even if our record on privacy were perfect, I think many people would still rightfully question how their information was protected. It’s important for people to think about this, and not one day goes by when I don’t think about what it means for us to be the stewards of this community and their trust.”

Zuckerberg also announced that Erin Egan will become Chief Privacy Officer, Policy and that Michael Richter will become Chief Privacy Officer, Products.

During a media call in session with the FTC, Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Bureau of Consumer Protection Deputy Director Jessica Rich, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection Associate Director Maneesha Mithal, and Division of Privacy and Identity Protection Staff Attorney Laura Berger explained carefully that the settlement does not count as a ruling that Facebook violated the law in changing its privacy settings or that it knowingly shared private user data with advertisers. They also stressed that, while this order is very broad, it prohibits any deception about privacy in the future whenever Facebook introduces changes or updates.

Facebook’s Law Enforcement Rules - Hackers claiming to be with Anonymous published a few documents outlining how law enforcement agencies may obtain user data.

Facebook Users Separated by 4.74 Friends – Facebook and the University of Milan conducted a study to determine how many degrees of separation exist between users on the platform. Turns out that users are separated by just 4.74 intermediate connections, according to ZDnet. [Image Via ZDnet]

Facebook Testing Windows Client – Facebook is in the testing stage of a Messenger for Windows desktop integration. ZDNet reported that the app requires Windows 7 and supports chat, news ticker and notifications.

Skype Now Directly Tied Into Facebook – Users utilizing Windows or Mac clients for Microsoft’s Skype VoIP may now launch a Skype call without leaving the platform, reported Information Week.

Proposed Law May Affect Facebook IPO – Legislation was introduced in the Senate this week that could result in the delay of Facebook’s IPO. A long-standing finance rule requires that companies with 500 or more shareholders make their finances available to the public (typically prompting companies to also make their stock available to the public). Facebook had accumulated many shareholders from distributing stock to employees and from its shares being bought and sold on private exchanges. The new rule would up the minimum threshold to 2000, presumably giving Facebook more leeway to decide if and when it will make its financial information and its shares public.

Could Yahoo’s Patents Hurt Facebook’s IPO? – Forbes has a piece this week that compared Yahoo’s extensive IP portfolio as potential revenue to Facebook’s ads-centric revenue approach, speculating that whoever owns that IP could charge licensing fees to Facebook.

Facebook Not Planning Taiwan Data Center – Facebook is not set to open Asia’s largest cloud data center in Taiwan, at the Central Taiwan Science Park, contrary to a widely republished article.

Mark Zuckerberg Officially Visits Harvard – The Atlantic gave an overview of Harvard University’s newspaper, The Crimson’s, coverage of Mark Zuckerberg while he attended the school.

Facebook COO to Interview NJ Gov – Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is set to interview New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, taking questions from users in an online town hall Monday. Note that Mark Zuckerberg donated $100 million to the Newark New Jersey school system. [Image Via Facebook]

Vitrue’s Social Mobile User Engagement Report – Vitrue released a report this week looking at social engagement with brands via mobile devices. Some interesting results included negative engagement with punctuation marks, short posts get more engagement, images improve engagement and weekends are when the most mobile interaction occurs.

How Well Does the Facebook Translate Button Work? – Lexiophiles compiled a brief analysis of how accurate Facebook’s translate button is.

Facebook Forms a PAC – Facebook filed paperwork this week to start its own political action committee, which will allow the company to lobby its causes more effectively in Washington, D.C. The company registered the FBPAC.org and FBPAC.us domain names.

Facebook Addresses Logout Issue – Nik Cubrilovic wrote a post this week breaking down privacy issues that emerged on the platform in wake of the recent redesign.

Politicos Demand Facebook Investigation – A few lawmakers demanded an investigations into the lawfulness of Facebook’s cookie software this week.

Facebook iPad Designer Quits, Works for Google – Jeff Verkoeyen is a former Facebook employee who designed the company’s iPad app. Writing on his blog, he said the iPad app has been feature complete since May. He left the company to work for Google since there wasn’t any progress on releasing the app.

Facebook Sued Over Timeline - CNET reported this week that a trademark infringement lawsuit was filed again Facebook by a Chicago company, Timelines. The company claims that Facebook’s new design endangers its livelihood, and that Facebook has taken over the URL of its Facebook Page.

Facebook’s Katie Mitic joins eBay Board – Facebook’s Platform and Mobile Marketing executive Katie Mitic is set to join eBay’s board. [Image via]

Buddy Media Opens Two New Offices – Page management giant Buddy Media has just opened two more offices, one in San Francisco to be managed by  Carla Bourque who was hired from Six Apart, and another in Singapore to be led by Ken Mandel who was hired from the Yahoo! Asia Pacific ads team.

Facebook Prominent at NYC Ad Week – Facebook and other tech companies are set to be prominent features of Advertising Week in New York City next week.

FanBridge Launches “Social Digest” – Brand and musician relationship management company FanBridge this week launched “Social Digest”, an email marketing tool that automatically creates summaries of the top content published to a client’s social presences, and delivers it to subscribers in a form that increases open rates.

“Social Series” Premieres on Facebook – Warner Bros will release a “social series” called “Aim High” on Facebook on October 18. The show will be personalized to each viewer who adds their profile information. [Image via Facebook]

Socialbakers raises $2M – Social media analytics company Socialbakers raised $2 million this week led by Earlybird Venture Capital. The company is set to expand its social media monitoring with the funding.

Facebook IPO in Late 2012? – The Financial Times reported this week that Facebook’s IPO is set for the end of next year, with a valuation of what would be at least $66 billion. But The New York Times said Facebook was on track to go public in the first half of next year. Facebook itself hasn’t made any official statements about

FTC Proposes New Privacy Regs – The Federal Trade Commission proposed rules this week that may affect how children under 13 use the Internet. Mobile web apps are now included in the rules, for example, and so may require parental consent for use.

Update on Case Sensitivity of Passwords – ZDnet wrote a piece this week in which Emil Protalinski found that Facebook passwords are not entirely case sensitive. Facebook responded noting that the site accepts three forms of your password: the original, the original with the first letter capitalized (to accommodate mobile devices) and the original password with cases reversed (to accommodate a caps lock being on).

Facebook’s FBAR – Facebook’s Engineering Team wrote a note this week detailing FBAR, or Facebook Automatic Remediation. These are scripts that detect errors or breakage in servers, automatically removing them from the system, determining the problem, alerting a technician to replace the drive, testing it and re-adding to Facebook’s infrastructure. It now manages more than 50% of Facebook’s infrastructure and is doing the work of about 200 system admins. [Image Via Facebook]

Skype, Facebook Integration 5.4 – Skype released its Mac updates recently that includes a Facebook integration that allows you to IM and connect with friends without leaving Facebook, also allowing you to read/update the feed, comment Like and more.

Custom URLs Available to Anyone – Facebook no longer requires users or Pages to need 25 friends to acquire a custom URL.

Fake Facebook Name Not a Felony – Forbes reported this week that, despite an initial concern that a fake Facebook name could be considered a felony under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, an amendment added eliminated this possibility.

App Allows Cross-Platform Posting – If This Then that allows users to cross-post to dozens of programs for content management purposes, such as instant messaging to your blog.