Dear John: I am writing to you because I need help exposing a chat room called openchat on Facebook.
This app allows access to all ages 13 and up. There is hate chat, racism, bullying, sexually explicit [content], nudity, pornography and also perverts and pedophiles.
There is a webcam room too, which is disgusting. Men go on and masturbate in front of whomever, even kids. I witnessed a 7-year-old girl on there with no shirt on.
These perverts do not respect females and do not obey the law, either.
Some of these kids are unaware of the intentions of these pedophile/pervs and have their Facebook accounts wide open for anyone to go in.
I have contacted my police department and half a dozen others, but I need more agencies on this. Please help me to help the kids! These kids are accessing openchat via Facebook and YouTube. I am on a mission to close this app. Thank you! P.C.
Dear P.C.: Mission accomplished.
I contacted Facebook on your behalf and forwarded your e-mail. And the site was taken down quickly by Facebook.
Sadly, Facebook said this was a popular site, with 20,000 “likes.”
Incidentally, a Facebook spokesman told me, “We have absolutely no tolerance for apps that would violate our terms and permit the sharing of sexually explicit content with minors. We react quickly to remove all reported apps that violate our terms, and we encourage people to report questionable content using links located throughout the site.”
Dear John: My son has a Facebook page in conjunction with his small business, Make It Legal.
It is a site advocating the legalization of medical marijuana.
Douglas, my son, told me that the page was deleted because someone complained about a copyright infringement.
Now Douglas cannot get in touch with anyone at Facebook.
Facebook gave him the e-mail [address] of the person complaining, but [he] will not get back to Douglas. And Facebook will not answer Douglas’s e-mails.
How did you get in contact with someone “live” when you were fighting Facebook over a pedophile page in your columns?
Any light that you can shine on what I or my son can do would be hugely appreciated. M.K.
Dear M.K. I sent your e-mail to my contact at Facebook, and he immediately got in touch with you and your son. And as your son was originally told, someone else claims the copyright to “Make It Legal.”
Your son provided what he says is documentation that he copyrighted the name first. Facebook says it doesn’t deal with issues like this.
“Thank you so much for reaching out,” said Facebook. “Unfortunately, we are not able to adjudicate third-party trademark disputes and abide by the records kept by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
“We encourage you to reach out to the USPTO or others to reach proper resolution, as we won’t be able to assist you without a valid USPTO record,” Facebook told you.
You should contact the USPTO in Washington to see what your options are. If your page is profitable enough, you might want to hire a lawyer to handle this. And if you win, and the other guy’s page is making him a ton of money, he might have an incentive to buy you out.
At the very least, I would insist that Facebook pull the other guy’s page as well as Douglas’s, so that your opponent won’t be able to say that you abandoned the copyright.
But I’m just saying that as a guy who covers all options; I’m not a lawyer.
Good luck.
Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.