It’s now well known that Facebook wants to patent its translation application with the help of which it has been able to create many (60+) localized versions in just a few months. With a global company like Facebook whose user base at 250 million (and counting) is bigger than the population of some countries; and a significant majority (over 70%) is based outside US, such an application is a vital tool for reaching out to more users in the shortest possible time.
The fact is that Facebook relies upon crowdsourcing for localization. This technique has already been used by social networking sites like Meebo and Hi5. So is it justified for Facebook to apply for a patent, as they are just using one of the many methods of crowdsourcing which has been used for quite some time by other services.
Language translation providers make for one group which stands in the way of getting directly affected by developments in crowdsourced translations. At Tomedes, we have been taking great interest in this and don’t see it as a potential rival. It’s a brilliant concept which can be used for breaking down linguistic barriers across the world much more rapidly and effectively. So we hope and pray that no single company has total or even significant power over it and that we can all work towards making quality crowd sourced translations a part of our daily life.
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