> agree to allow whatever special permissions the developer is asking for
You can't just write up an arbitrary contract and assume it will hold up in a court of law. For example, if I tried to rent out a unit by signing a lease that allowed the landlord to turn my water off if I posted a negative review about them, their lease would probably be found in violation of the corresponding state's landlord-tenant laws.
Precedents are established all the time. In the case of Facebook, this is something that common law would not have addressed prior to the early 2000s. Never before have we had such an efficient data-mining machine in the hands of anyone. New technologies warrant new laws.
You can't just write up an arbitrary contract and assume it will hold up in a court of law. For example, if I tried to rent out a unit by signing a lease that allowed the landlord to turn my water off if I posted a negative review about them, their lease would probably be found in violation of the corresponding state's landlord-tenant laws.
Precedents are established all the time. In the case of Facebook, this is something that common law would not have addressed prior to the early 2000s. Never before have we had such an efficient data-mining machine in the hands of anyone. New technologies warrant new laws.
Edit: One example of such a landlord, by the way, is Anne Kihagi who neglected many such tenants. I'm not sure if she did so through a faulty lease, however. It's late... https://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/home-invade...