A U. S. District Court judge in Massachusettsdenied Facebook's demand that Harvard alumni magazine 02138 remove documents from its website. The collection includes court testimony from the ConnectU case, Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard application, and entries from his online journal. Before editors reversed course and redacted sensitive information, the documents also contained Zuckerberg's social security number, his girlfriend's name, and his parents' home address. They still include testimony which highlights Zuckerberg's affinity for the word "like" and former Facebook executive Sean Parker's trouble with cocaine.

People say the craziest things to New York Times reporters. In an attempt to explain that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wasn't, you know, lying when he implied to NYT staffer Louise Story that Facebook's Beacon ads wouldn't report on users' purchases and other activities unless they opted in to the system, "Matt Hicks, a Facebook spokesman, said Mr. Zuckerberg had meant that users would be given the opportunity to opt out of having information sent out by Beacon, and the company had assumed that anyone who didn't say no meant yes." As Story reports, Coke is having the same "Huh?" reaction, and has withdrawn from early participation in Beacon ads. I confess: I'm biased. I went to MIT, so whenever a Harvard man like Zuckerberg opens his mouth, I start listening for the bullshit. I wish I were wrong more often.

Ahh, that feels good right there. I don't think we'll be talking about this week next week. The Facebook pile-on continued. Amazon's Kindle reader suffered a surprise media backlash. I'd hoped for another bank-employee-in-tutu photo to liven things up. Instead we got Gerstmanngate. At least we still have jobs — oh wait, Valleywag party girl Megan "Leggy" McCarthy is heading to Wired. I think I'll go curl up in the tub with my INVISIBLE PUPPY. (Photo by Jason Calacanis)

Maybe Facebook applications weren't spammy enough for you already? Don't lose sleep over it. GigaOm's Om Malik reports that third-party developers will soon be able to let search engines index their applications' pages. What does that mean? A whole lot more useless links and ugly clutter, and even more people inviting you to become a zombie. It's also a reason to give enthusiasts of Google's OpenSocial platform pause. There's less reason to build an app for OpenSocial if Google's own search results will help developers find new users.

MoveOn.org, the activist group, takes credit for Facebook revising its privacy policy. The company itself says it was just listening to user feedback. But you know better: Money talks. The New York Times reports that prior to Facebook's announcement last night, at least one advertiser, Overstock.com, told Zuckerberg & Co. it would discontinue its participation in Facebook's Beacon ads until it became an opt-in-only program, where users have to actively consent to have their purchases broadcasted to friends on the social network. It's not clear if Facebook's latest changes have appeased the online retailer.

Of course Tequila's been a hit on MySpace for quite some time now; she says she accepts 10,000 to 20,000 friend requests a day. I'm not sure who Facebook's most popular member is — Scoble? I know you just can't wait for the first episode of A Shot At Love With Robert Scoble.

Last night, Facebook revised its policies on Beacon, the online-ad format some critics say violate users' privacy rights. MoveOn.org spokesman Adam Green called it "a huge step in the right direction," one that says "a lot about the ability of everyday Internet users to band together to make a difference." Never mind that war still rages in Iraq and George W. Bush is still in office. Hey, MoveOn, you win some, you lose some. (Photo by AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

As we'd heard, Facebook has found a strategic investor in Asia: Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing will reportedly invest $60 million in Facebook with the option to double up later. The 79 year old is the world's ninth richest person and, as the photo above would indicate, a Facebook member as well. Though on the site, he's listed himself as a she. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

For privacy advocates, it's a holiday miracle. Mark Zuckerberg's heart just grew three sizes. Facebook has just released a statement outlining several changes to Beacon, its online-advertising system which reports actions Facebook users take on other websites to their friends. The key takeaway? You can't opt out of Beacon completely, as some critics have asked, but reports on your activity — say, the fact that you just bought your girlfriend a ring on Overstock.com — won't be published without your "proactive consent," says Facebook. After the jump, the full statement.

In a landslide the likes of which we haven't seen since Brew PR's Brooke Hammerling destroyed Ogilvy's Justin O'Neill in a "snacky or flacky" head-to-head, 94.8 percent of readers believe that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stole Christmas. All this because his new ad product might tell your friends which presents you're getting them. And Zuck had stiff competition, too. Scrooge essentially kills poor Tiny Tim and the Grinch, well, he made a right mess out of Who-ville, didn't he?

When I read Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's deposition in one of his pending lawsuits with the founders of ConnectU, who claim he stole the idea for the social network from them, my first thought was, "Did anyone at Microsoft read these before investing $240 million in Facebook?" Zuckerberg is at his worst in these transcripts — by turns arrogant, befuddled, condescending, and obfuscating. And then it hit me.

Hugh Macleod continues to explore the pollution of Mark Zuckerberg's $15 billion Valley wunderkind Facebook with his latest Web cartoon and blog post. But the expression "a picture is worth a thousand words" doesn't apply here.

Facebook has bigger problems than the possibility of an FTC inquiry. 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl recently visited the company's Palo Alto offices, says Kara Swisher of AllThingsD. According to Swisher, Stahl interviewed CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chris Kelly, the network's chief privacy officer. Which can only mean one thing: A major exposé on Facebook coming soon on the hard-hitting CBS news show. Don't think it's serious?

Better hurry up with those rumored changes to Beacon, Mark Zuckerberg. The Federal Trade Commission, which we warned might pose a problem, is about to get on your case. According to reports, agitators from the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy just announced their intent to file complaints with the commission. Maybe it's time to quit thinking this uproar is the same as last year's brief, quick-fading News Feed protest.

Valleywag's favorite dancer, Mark Cuban, is sashaying to enter the crowded market of Facebook applications with Radical Buy. Radical Buy is not radically different from other venues for selling goods, like eBay or Facebook's own Marketplace. Cuban's approach is distinguished in one significant way: The application introduces commissions to those who display other people's listings and help close sales. By providing even nonsellers with a chance to make money, Radical Buy hopes to get uptake beyond a small audience of Cuban followers.

Following rumors that it was actually Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who stole Christmas because the social network's new ad product shares a user's Internet buying activity with friends, BusinessWeek reports executives met yesterday for "deep talks over proposed changes" which could go into effect as early as today. Fastest 100 years I ever saw.

Is Mark Zuckerberg's heart two sizes too small? Is Facebook ruining Christmas? Ask Tasha Valdez and the answer is duh. Facebook's privacy-invading Beacon ads are totally the new Grinch. "Oh my gosh, my cousins entire christmas shopping list this week was displayed on the feed. thats so messed up. This has gotta stop!" You want more, you sick schadenfreuder? OK, but then you gotta vote for who really stole Christmas.

There was a rumor floating around last year that Valley bad boy Sean Parker was forced out of startup Plaxo for a cocaine arrest. Turns out that rumor wasn't exactly true. According to a transcription of Mark Zuckerberg's deposition from the ConnectU v. Facebook case, it was Facebook, not Plaxo, which dropped Peter Thiel's protégé from its executive ranks after Parker was arrested for possession while at a house party. A house party Parker attended with a female Facebook employee who was also a Stanford undergrad at the time. Parker earlier told Valleywag that the arrest was "a misunderstanding." We'll say.

Fun fact #1 about lying memoirist James Frey's Facebook profile: he is a member of the group "I Love 'A Million Little Pieces' and James Frey Even if It's Not All True."

We love legal proceedings. Statements are on the record, accessible to the public, and presumably truthful, since it's a crime to lie to the court. As supporting evidence for their sordid story of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's college days, Harvard-alum mag 02138 posted a series of court documents, including the transcript of Zuckerberg's deposition in one of the ConnectU lawsuits, and boy, is it a gem. The first tidbit: Mark Zuckerberg consides Eduardo Saverin a Facebook cofounder, along with Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz. Or considered him one, during the April 2006 deposition. More recently, when we asked Facebook who its founders were in July, Eduardo was missing from the official list. No wonder: As 02138 revealed, Saverin, too, is suing Zuckerberg.