Today, we're posting a draft of our proposed Payments Terms to better explain how financial transactions will take place. Facebook is and will continue to be a free service. These payments terms only govern any purchases you may make on the site.

The new payments terms will replace the existing Terms of Sale and the payments-related sections of the Online Advertising Terms and Conditions. We are using the same notice-and-comment process we debuted a few weeks ago for the Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. You can comment on the proposed payments terms during a three-day period that begins at 1:00 p.m. PDT today.

We drafted new terms in order to simplify all of our payments-related terms by bringing them together in one place and to give us the flexibility to try new features. Currently, payments are available for all users in two ways on the site. One is through the Facebook Gift Shop, where you can purchase credits to buy gifts for your friends. The second is to purchase advertising through the online Facebook Ads system. You also may see credits appear in other ways on the site.

Be sure to check out the Facebook Site Governance Page to read the latest version of the full drafts as well as a summary of many of the changes. Those documents are available in Spanish, French, Italian and German and will be posted and open for comments until 12:59 p.m. PDT on Saturday, May 30. To stay updated on this and future proposed changes to our site terms and governance, become a fan of the Site Governance Page.


Joe is Facebook's lead counsel for product.