Youth held for threat to Sena chief

Divyesh Singh
Monday, August 04, 2008 03:12 IST

The Thane police cyber cell officials on Saturday arrested 20-year-old Suraj Dinkar Shetty after they received a complaint from Bhartiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS) state secretary Vikas Repale that someone had started an anti-Shiv Sena community on the social networking site Orkut and had also posted a threat message to Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

“We had been observing that some people had started an anti-Shiv Sena community on Orkut and were using abusive language against Sena chief Bal Thackeray. After keeping a watch since the past few months, we came across a message that said that Sena chief would be killed on August 5th. We then approached the Thane police commissioner to look into the case,” Repale said.

When cyber cell officials traced the internet protocol (IP) address of the computer from where the mail was written, they came to know about Shetty’s address. Shetty, who used his laptop to browse the internet, has however refuted all the allegations and has claimed to be innocent. According to Shetty, someone else has hacked into his account and used his email id to write those messages. Shetty was arrested from his residence in the Golden Nest housing complex at Mira Road.

The Cyber cell officials are further trying to find out the involvement of other people in this case. Last year, Shiv Sena activists had attacked few cyber cafes in Kalyan and nearby areas and had demanded a ban on Orkut as few people had started such anti-shiv sena communities. Use of orkut was banned in cyber cafes for a few months after that. s_divyesh@dnaindia.net source: http://www.dnaindia.com

Rediffmail Uses Orkut/ Facebook feeds

Techtree News Staff

Rediff.com has now integrated news feeds from popular social networking sites like Orkut and Facebook in the Rediffmail inbox. With this new addition, Rediff users will now be able to receive news feeds from these social networking sites without actually having to visit them. News feeds within the mailbox will help users to find interesting content like photos, videos and music shared by friends on these sites.

Users can sign up to receive news feed by providing their username and password details and Rediffmail will automatically import news feeds from the chosen social networking sites. Moreover, users can choose this service just as a way to see what their friends are up to, or for browsing and reading the stuff their friends share and actively engage them through email by sending comments and messages. Presently, this news feeds feature is limited to just two social-networking sites - Facebook and Orkut. However, the company plans to extend it to other social networking sites like LinkedIn, among others.

Programmers in India prefer Google's Orkut

Programmers in India prefer Google's Orkut

Google's Orkut social network isn't just big in Brazil. It's also popular in India, especially among software developers, according to a new survey.

Despite Facebook's efforts to promote that social network as the platform of choice for third-party application developers, Orkut is used by twice as many software programmers in India than either Facebook or MySpace, according to an Evans Data survey of more than 300 developers in India. Software programmers in that country are heavy users of social networks in general.

Seventy-three percent of those surveyed said they had used Orkut, compared with 35 percent for Facebook and 32 percent for MySpace.

"Capturing mindshare with developers in fast-growing emerging development markets like India and Brazil gives them (Google) a strategic advantage going forward in further cultivating this very important community," Evans Data Chief Executive John Andrews said in a statement.
Google has released new domains specific to India and Brazil as a result of the popularity in those countries.

The independent survey was conducted in late May and early June.
Originally posted at Webware

Programmers in India prefer Google's Orkut

Google's Orkut social network isn't just big in Brazil. It's also popular in India, especially among software developers, according to a new survey.

Despite Facebook's efforts to promote that social network as the platform of choice for third-party application developers, Orkut is used by twice as many software programmers in India than either Facebook or MySpace, according to an Evans Data survey of more than 300 developers in India. Software programmers in that country are heavy users of social networks in general.

Seventy-three percent of those surveyed said they had used Orkut, compared with 35 percent for Facebook and 32 percent for MySpace.

"Capturing mindshare with developers in fast-growing emerging development markets like India and Brazil gives them (Google) a strategic advantage going forward in further cultivating this very important community," Evans Data Chief Executive John Andrews said in a statement.
Google has released new domains specific to India and Brazil as a result of the popularity in those countries.

The independent survey was conducted in late May and early June.

Programmers in India prefer Google''s Orkut

Posted by Elinor Mills 7 commentsGoogle''s Orkut social network isn''t just big in Brazil. It''s also popular in India, especially among software developers. Despite Facebook''s efforts to promote that social network as the platform of choice for third-party application developers, Orkut is used by twice as many software programmers in India than either Facebook or MySpace, according to an Evans Data survey of more than 300 developers in India. Software programmers in that country are heavy users of social networks in general. Seventy-three percent of those surveyed said they had used Orkut, compared with 35 percent for Facebook and 32 percent for MySpace. "Capturing mindshare with developers in fast-growing emerging development markets like India and Brazil gives them (Google) a strategic advantage going forward in further cultivating this very important community," Evans Data Chief Executive John Andrews said in a statement.

Programmers in India prefer Google's Orkut

Posted by Elinor Mills 7 comments
Google's Orkut social network isn't just big in Brazil. It's also popular in India, especially among software developers, according to a new survey.

Despite Facebook's efforts to promote that social network as the platform of choice for third-party application developers, Orkut is used by twice as many software programmers in India than either Facebook or MySpace, according to an Evans Data survey of more than 300 developers in India. Software programmers in that country are heavy users of social networks in general.

Seventy-three percent of those surveyed said they had used Orkut, compared with 35 percent for Facebook and 32 percent for MySpace.

"Capturing mindshare with developers in fast-growing emerging development markets like India and Brazil gives them (Google) a strategic advantage going forward in further cultivating this very important community," Evans Data Chief Executive John Andrews said in a statement.
Google has released new domains specific to India and Brazil as a result of the popularity in those countries.

The independent survey was conducted in late May and early June.

source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9985096-7.html?hhTest

Google to Battle Child Porn on Orkut

Google to Battle Child Porn on Orkut

Internet giant Google has signed an agreement with Brazilian public prosecutors to help fight the distribution of child pornography on its Orkut social networking service. Brazilian public prosecutors had filed a suit against Google in its unwillingness to cooperate with investigations; Google maintains that it has always been willing to cooperate with Brazilian authorities, but under U.S. law could not disclose information about its users.
Brazilian authorities have claimed that as much as 90 percent of illegal online content being investigated in Brazil involves Orkut at some level. Of 624 Brazilian investigations into online human rights crimes—including crimes against children and teenagers—420 involved Orkut.
Under the new agreement, Google will employe filtering technology to block and remove illegal content on Orkut; it will also provide evidence in suspected crimes against minors when presented with a Brazilian judicial order without requiring international legal maneuvering. The company will also preserve six months of access logs of users being investigated for illegal activity on the service.
Public prosecutors had sued Google for refusing to cooperate in investigations of illegal activity on Orkut; that suit will be withdrawn as part of the agreement. Google maintains it has always been willing to cooperate with Brazilian authorities to the extend permitted under applicable laws.
Orkut was on of the earliest social networking sites to hit the Internet, and enjoyed a brief burst of popularity in the United States before losing ground to sites like MySpace and Facebook. Nonetheless, Orkut boasts some 60 million users; nearly half are Brazilian.

Orkut founder Buyukkokten

Reader Girish (right) spotted Orkut Buyukkokten, founder of Orkut.com, at Google Inc, Mountain View, California, in January 2008.

He was elated to meet Orkut and requested for a photograph along with him. The social networking guru obliged.

If you encounter/meet/see business personalities and photograph them, please scan the photographs and mail the pictures to us. We will feature the best images right here on Rediff Business.

Has social networking ever landed you in hot water?

Has social networking ever landed you in hot water?




June 02, 2008

A British family's multi-million dollar mansion has ended up in shambles after their 16-year-old daughter threw a party there.

The teenager posted an open invitation to her birthday bash on social networking sites, promising strangers a good time. Over 400 invitees landed up at the house and besides looting thousands of dollars' worth of jewellery and clothing, the 'guests' trashed furniture, smashed things and even threw a television into the pool.

Several such instances have been reported of late -- some youngster or the other is always in the news for misusing a social networking site and landing up in hot water.

Has using a social networking site ever gotten you or anyone you know into trouble?
Do you think youngsters are aware of the consequences when misusing their accounts?
Tell us what you think -- simply post your experiences, advice and opinion on the message board below. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Source: http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2008/jun/02net.htm

Communities dedicated to Aarushi Talwar on Orkut

It is true that the online social networking site, Orkut, has been in news for all the wrong reasons lately. But this time, the website is being put to good use. Friends of Aarushi Talwar are remembering the teenager and are protecting her honour..
CJ: Laila , 16 hours ago Views:297 Comments:0

ORKUT, THE internet social networking community where youngsters meet up to keep in touch with each other, has been in news on and off. Mostly, for all wrong the reasons. Like, on occasions when certain unsavoury and undesirable elements create hate communities and post hate scraps.

Orkut is again in news. But this time, it is for a poignant and touching reason. The murdered teen – Aarushi Talwar’s friends have formed communities on Orkut to condole her death and keep her memory alive. These young teenagers have shown much courage, solidarity and sensitivity by their unity by telling the world that no one can tarnish Aarushi’s character and honour. They also seem to be reaching out to Aarushi in spirit and telling her that she can rest in peace and they will take care of her earthly enemies. Not only Aarushi’s friends but other youngsters who have never known her too have shown much sympathy and support towards the deceased.

Orkut basically allows the global community to stay socially alive and is the only free popular platform accessible for youngsters to air their views. So, if they use this social networking site to remember Aarushi and pour their grief and horror at her murder, it is certainly not wrong. These teenagers have displayed the good, gentle, caring side of human nature.

In this harsh and cruel world where everyone is thinking of themselves - TV channels about their television rating points (TRPs), the police about their 15 minutes of fame, her parents about proving themselves innocent by contradictive statements in press and in media - these youngsters have gathered an abandoned soul and protected the sweet fragrant memory of her short life.

Rest in Peace "Aarushi Talwar"A tribute to Aarushi . Aarushi Talwar, to name a few.
In fact, there is also a community for Hemraj called ’Remembering Hemraj - Aarushi’s servant’.
In these communities, the words Aarushi had said on the last day of her life, her likes, her love of music, and the fun stuff she did are all remembered.
One community reads...

"This community pays tribute to Aarushi Talwar, a 14 year old girl who had been murdered on 15 May 2008 in Noida !The Girl was about to turn 15 On MAY 24th ! But her destiny moved the way against her will !! She had it all...Beauty with Brains..Intelligence and wit..
So lets cum together and pray for her !!be a human!For the Culprit is not very FAR! God Bless Her Soul !!!!! RIP !!!"

An unknown teen wrote "Although I don’t know you.. but I still wish..May God bless your soul dear aarushi.."The name of Aarushi’s Orkut profile that she had created, is, "AaRuShI :) loving LiFe!!!!!!" This is enough to make anybody’s eyes moist and misty!

This outpouring of sympathy and grief is also because the youth feels that she is a lost and lonely soul abandoned by her own her parents – her wall of security.

The way these young teenagers, with still that touch of innocence and understanding way above their years, mourn Aarushi and remember her with so much love and affection is so very touching and poignant. Candle light vigils, flowers, sombre prayer meetings and communities on Orkut and Facebook reflect the overwhelming grief felt for this little princess’ life that was cut short. Let us learn about solidarity, unity and protection from these teenagers actions.
Certainly these are the ways to protect her honour, not marking her death as a honour-killing as the police called it!
Rest in Peace "Aarushi Talwar"
Source: http://lifestyle.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=135006

Orkut - Getting Started

Protect your account
Profile privacy features
How do I join orkut?
How do I create my orkut profile?
General safety tips for using orkut.com
How do I join orkut?
How do I change orkut.com back to English?
How do I enable JavaScript?
Does orkut support my browser?
Does orkut.com own all the content that I submit to the site?
Protect your account
Due to orkut.com's open nature, we realize that users' accounts can become compromised through phishing schemes, viruses, and spyware. Fortunately, users can help secure their own account and their online identity quickly and easily. As a starting point, we recommend the following safe practices:

Don't share: Keep your username, password and personal information secret and change your password regularly.

Don't script: Never paste a URL or script into your browser while logged into orkut.com, no matter what it claims to do. Don't click on links in emails that claim to be from orkut or Gmail. Scan your computer regularly for viruses, spyware, and adware.

Don't spread: Never enter your Google Account login and password on sites other than orkut.com and other Google properties. Never check remember me when you're using a shared computer.

Avoid posting sensitive personal data, such as email addresses or pictures, in public places.

Don't forget to click the Logout link at the top of the page when you're done using orkut.

You may also want to restrict who's allowed to write in your scrapbook and see your photos, scrapbook, videos, testimonials, and feeds. To do so, click settings under your profile photo, choose the privacy tab, and use the dropdown menu to choose who is allowed to send you scraps or see your scrapbook, photos, videos, testimonials and feeds.

Please remember never to share your password with anyone, including sites that claim to send friendly scraps to your orkut.com friends. If you've shared your password with anyone, we highly recommend you change it as soon as possible.

If someone is using your account without your permission, please report a hijacked account.
Please be assured that orkut.com does not use your email address for any purpose other than sending out orkut invitations and notices. We find spam annoying and are committed to keeping your email address safe.
Additionally, we'll never send you spam emails asking you to download anything or to send us personal information, such as your password or bank account information. orkut.com is a free service, and it will remain safe with your help.

orkut.com Community Standards

The following Community Standards are the shared values of the orkut.com community. orkut.com is a place where users can express their own beliefs and values, and our Community Standards help foster a positive environment in which to do so. These standards are a living document and will change based on the needs of the broad community and the available tools, so we encourage you to review them frequently.
We take the orkut.com Community Standards seriously and ask you to respect them. As orkut.com members, you have certain responsibilities to yourselves and to each other.

The following guidelines are intended to protect orkut.com members' privacy, legal rights and overall user experience. Note that these guidelines are not intended to replace the actual Terms of Service for orkut.com
Potential Community Standards violations should be reported using the Report Abuse button on either the community or profile page. If we determine that the reported content is illegal or violates our policies, we may immediately remove it.

Account RestrictionsWhile we encourage users to take full advantage of their accounts on orkut.com to share ideas freely with one another, we have limitations on certain account content and behavior. Users’ accounts are subject to the following restrictions. Violation of any of these restrictions may result in the suspension or termination of an account:

User IdentitySince orkut.com is meant to foster open interactions between real people, we require users to meet basic identity standards. Accounts should only be created by the person being depicted, and all users must be alive and at least 18 years old.

Profile ContentAn account should not upload, transmit or contain (in the profile, testimonials, scrapbook entries, etc.) material -- such as child pornography -- that violates real-world laws. These users will be immediately terminated when we become aware of such content, and we will report instances of child pornography to the appropriate authorities.

Additionally, images displayed on orkut.com should not contain nudity, sexually graphic material, or material that is otherwise deemed explicit by the orkut team.

An account should not upload, transmit or contain material that is hateful or offensive based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

An account should not contain direct threats of violence against any living person, nor may it promote any dangerous and illegal activity.

Account BehaviorAccounts should not be used for commercial purposes unless separately agreed to by contract with Google. orkut.com is for personal use only.

An account should not be created by automated means or be used by an automated system to perform actions such as: creating new accounts; sending scraps, messages, testimonials or invitations; or creating communities. We may remove accounts found to be engaged in this type of activity. Similarly, an account that affects the general stability and/or integrity of the system may be suspended or terminated.

Finally, we believe that users are accountable for the company they keep. An orkut.com account should not be used to invite another account with the purpose of violating these Community Standards. If the orkut.com team determines this takes place, we may suspend or terminate both accounts.

Community RestrictionsWhile we encourage users to take advantage of communities on orkut.com to share ideas freely with one another, we have limitations on certain community content and behavior. Communities are subject to the following restrictions. Violation of any of these restrictions may result in the termination of a community:

Community ContentNeedless to say, a community should not contain material -- such as child pornography or pedophilia -- that violates real-world laws.

Additionally, images displayed on orkut.com should not contain nudity, sexually graphic material, or material that is otherwise deemed explicit by the orkut team.

A community should not display material, or be used for activity, that is hateful or offensive based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

A community should not contain direct threats of violence against any living person, nor should it promote any dangerous and illegal activity.

Community BehaviorCommunities should not be used for commercial purposes unless separately agreed to by contract with Google. orkut.com is for personal use only.

A community that affects the general stability and/or integrity of the system may be suspended or terminated until the issue can be addressed.

Other orkut.com Policies
Terms of ServiceImage Upload PolicyCopyrighted Material PolicyPrivacy Policy

Source: orkut.com

orkut Privacy and Security Center

Please visit the topics below to find out more about orkut's policies. These links also contain important information for safeguarding your profile and protecting your privacy. We trust and rely on our users to notify us of violations of our Terms of Service and to notify us of abuse.
orkut.com Policies
Terms of Service
Community Standards
Copyrighted Material Policy
Privacy Policy
Image Upload Policy

Privacy Features
Removals policy
Profile privacy features
Ignore other users
Content ownership

Security Features
Removals policy
Protect your account
Prevent viruses and spyware
Spam on orkut

General Safety Resources
General safety tips for using orkut
Advice for parents
Other safety resources
Reporting abuse on orkut

Known issues with security
Is this email from orkut? Is orkut going to delete my account?
All my scraps are gone!
I deleted my profile, but it's still up.

orkut Known Issues
We're always working to resolve problems that pop up on orkut. If your problem is listed below, we're aware of the issue and are working to fix it as soon as possible. To see more information on an issue, just click "View Details & Report." Clicking the "Report it" button will save you the time of sending us an email but will ensure that we're notified about your issue.
Source: orkut.com

Orkut

orkut is an online community designed to make your social life more active and stimulating. orkut's social network can help you maintain existing relationships with pictures and messages, and establish new ones by reaching out to people you've never met before.

orkut makes it easy to find people who share your hobbies and interests, look for romantic connections or establish new business contacts. You can also create and join a wide variety of online communities to discuss current events, reconnect with old school mates or even exchange your favorite recipes.

Who you interact with is entirely up to you. Before getting to know an orkut member, you can read their profile and even see how they're connected to you through the friends network.

To join orkut, simply sign in with your Google Account and you can begin to create your own profile right away. If you do not have a Google Account yet, we will help you create one in minutes.

It is our mission to help you create a closer, more intimate network of friends. We hope to put you on the path to social bliss soon. Source: orkut.com

Orkut

orkut is an online community designed to make your social life more active and stimulating. orkut's social network can help you maintain existing relationships with pictures and messages, and establish new ones by reaching out to people you've never met before.

orkut makes it easy to find people who share your hobbies and interests, look for romantic connections or establish new business contacts. You can also create and join a wide variety of online communities to discuss current events, reconnect with old school mates or even exchange your favorite recipes.

Who you interact with is entirely up to you. Before getting to know an orkut member, you can read their profile and even see how they're connected to you through the friends network.

To join orkut, simply sign in with your Google Account and you can begin to create your own profile right away. If you do not have a Google Account yet, we will help you create one in minutes.

It is our mission to help you create a closer, more intimate network of friends. We hope to put you on the path to social bliss soon.

Orkut

orkut is an online community designed to make your social life more active and stimulating. orkut's social network can help you maintain existing relationships with pictures and messages, and establish new ones by reaching out to people you've never met before.

orkut makes it easy to find people who share your hobbies and interests, look for romantic connections or establish new business contacts. You can also create and join a wide variety of online communities to discuss current events, reconnect with old school mates or even exchange your favorite recipes.

Who you interact with is entirely up to you. Before getting to know an orkut member, you can read their profile and even see how they're connected to you through the friends network.

To join orkut, simply sign in with your Google Account and you can begin to create your own profile right away. If you do not have a Google Account yet, we will help you create one in minutes.
It is our mission to help you create a closer, more intimate network of friends. We hope to put you on the path to social bliss soon. Source: orkut.com

Google, Facebook in stalemate over social data

By ANICK JESDANUN – 2 days ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Google Inc.'s online communities have little traction in the United States, but the search leader continues to seek a spot in the social-networking hierarchy. First, it must contend with Facebook, the No. 2 online hangout behind MySpace.

Days after Google unveiled Friend Connect, which lets the sites of musicians, political campaigns and others incorporate profile data from several social networks, Facebook began to block the program.

Although Google was taking advantage of the same tools that Facebook made available free to other outside developers, Facebook said Google was violating Facebook's restrictions on data sharing. The two sides remain in a stalemate.

Google, whose Orkut social network has tens of millions of users in Brazil, tried to reach further into social networking with the November unveiling of a consortium called OpenSocial, which lets developers write applications for use on multiple social networks. News Corp.'s MySpace has joined, but Facebook hasn't.

This month, Google unveiled Friend Connect, which promises to pool profile data from Facebook, Google Talk, Orkut, LinkedIn, Plaxo and hi5, though not MySpace. The profile information gets incorporated into other sites — a political campaign, for instance, can build communities of supporters by tapping existing networks — with Google serving as the intermediary.
Facebook quickly objected, citing privacy concerns. Normally dealing with other companies one on one, Facebook can block a service it feels violates its rules. With Google as the intermediary, Facebook lost that leverage, so it decided to block Friend Connect entirely.
In a blog posting, Facebook developer Charlie Cheever said Google's Friend Connect "redistributes user information from Facebook to other developers without users' knowledge, which doesn't respect the privacy standards our users have come to expect."

Google responded, acknowledging it passes along data. But it said sharing is limited to links for profile photos of users and friends who have expressly consented to sharing with that particular site. The user's name and numeric ID on Facebook are replaced with Google's own identifiers, Google said in a company blog post.
Google also said it purges Facebook data from its systems every 30 minutes, more frequently than the 24 hours required by Facebook.

Facebook has run into privacy challenges before, most recently when it unveiled a marketing tool called "Beacon" that tracked purchases Facebook members made on other Web sites and sent alerts to their Facebook friends about the transactions.

But Rachel Happe, research manager at IDC, said the dispute is ultimately about control rather than privacy. She said Google's Friend Connect "starts to eat into other people's value proposition, which is why you saw Facebook object to it." Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gAOfgS-2v1Qhg7OKgdlLROleXVEAD90S061G0

One held for posting obscene Orkut message on Sonia

18 May 2008, 0325 hrs IST,TNN

PUNE: Orkut, the popular social networking site, is in the news again. The cyber cell of the city police crime branch has arrested Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid (22), an IT professional of Gurgaon, Haryana, for allegedly uploading obscene and derogatory text about Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi on Orkut. Congress activist Amol Bhokare (28) of Pune, who saw the message, lodged a complaint at the Deccan Gymkhana police in December, 2007. Vaid was found guilty under section 67 of the IT Act. According to assistant commissioner of police (cell) Netaji Shinde, Vaid, who was working with PC solutions, an IT company in Gurgaon, had added the derogatory text in a community named'I hate Soniya Gandhi' on Orkut, last year.

He uploaded the text while working at office. Shinde said that the police had first asked Google to provide the IP address of the person who posted the message. They learnt that the accused was connected to the net through Bharati Airtel and Sify Internet in Chennai. It was also learnt that the message was circulated through the email address'rahulvaidindia@gmail.com'. The police then sought information about the user of this email address from the internet service provider and learnt that it was the address of Rahul Vaid, a resident of Chakarpur in Gurgaon. The police nabbed Vaid at his residence on Friday. He admitted to having posted the message.

The accused was produced before the Shivajinagar court on Saturday and remanded to custody till May 21. Interestingly, the person who formed the community'I hate Soniya Gandhi' is not guilty as per the law. ACP N. Shinde said hating Sonia Gandhi is the personal opinion of the person who formed the community. Having a personal opinion about someone is not an offence as per the law. Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/One_held_for_posting_obscene_Orkut_message_on_Sonia/articleshow/3049971.cms

Flooders and fake profiles

Flooders and fake profiles: As with any online social networking community, a number of fake and cloned profiles exist on Orkut.Due to the large number of users, and the deactivation of the jail system, the profiles were often left unremoved or, when removed, recreated easily. These profiles are normally created to troll, to spam, to flood or just for fun. It isn't hard to find users owning more than one profile, with some stating they own hundreds. Also, many of the users use these profiles to steal art that has previously posted online and deem it their own.

In 2005 invisible profiles, communities and topics started to appear in Orkut. This could be achieved by using HTML escaping codes and 1x1 pixel photos to fool the engine behind the site.

In August 2005 a freeware program was made in Delphi called Floodtudo ("tudo" in Portuguese means "everything" - this was developed by a Brazilian) specifically for flooding Orkut. It quickly spread through the users and was easily downloadable (the most common Floodtudo versions were As this program was massively used by thousands of spammers, a big spam wave struck Orkut in September and October 2005. However, changes implemented by the developers in November made this program non-functional.

As the flooding of Orkut was becoming out of control, the developers implemented some features in order to stop this. These features included not allowing two or more verbatim topics or scrapbook entries to be submitted, forcing the user to wait before posting another topic or scrapbook entry, and the usage of captchas, whenever a scrap entry is hyperlinked. They gave more rights to community moderators as well, so that users can be banned outright instead of relying on the developers to remove them, and now community moderators are able to mass-delete topics selectively in forum as well.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: wikipedia.org

Orkut

Orkut is a social networking service which is run by Google and named after its creator, an employee of Google - Orkut Büyükkökten. The service states that it was designed to help users meet new friends and maintain existing relationships. Orkut is similar to other social networking sites. Since October 2006, Orkut has permitted users to create accounts without an invitation. Orkut is the most visited website in Brazil and second most visited site in India. The initial target market for Orkut was the United States, but the majority of its users are in India and Brazil. In fact, as of May 2008, 43.9% of the traffic comes from Brazil, followed by India with 38.8%.
External links Official Site
Official Blog (in English)
Official Blog (in Portuguese)
Non-official Brazilian Magazine about Orkut (in Portuguese)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Source: wikipedia.org